Lifeguard rescues 3 men at Aksa beach

A 25-year-old lifeguard attached to the Mumbai Fire Brigade rescued three Malvani residents, who were stranded on a rock near Aksa beach on Wednesday. The incident took place in the morning after the three youth ventured out onto the rocks during low tide.

Nathuram Suryavanshi, a local of Aksa beach, was on duty at around 10.25 am when he noticed the three youth on a rock between Aksa and Dana Pani beach crying out for help. Suryavanshi said that the three youth were sitting on a rock, which was already covered by water from all sides due to the rising tide.

At around 1pm, after informing the Malwani police, he along with another lifeguard Swatej Kolambkar, rode on a bike towards the rock which was one km away from the beach.

Suryavanshi jumped in to the water with two life jackets and one ring. "I gave the life jackets to two of them and with the help of the ring, we swam towards the shore," said Suryavanshi, adding that the third youth was rescued soon after.

The youth said they had gone to the beach early in the morning during low tide, and did not realise when the water started rising. They have been identified as Altaf Mohammad Iqbal, 30, Sarfaraz Rahim Sheikh, 24, and Suraj Ganesh Prajapati, 25, all locals from the Malwani area.