Nine staff members of a city-based school met with watery grave in the Arabian Sea in Junagadh district on Friday afternoon.
Nine staff members of a city-based school met with watery grave in the Arabian Sea in the Chorwad coast of Junagadh district on Friday afternoon. They included seven teachers, one librarian, and a daughter of one of the teachers.
About 33 staff members of Genius International School, Rajkot, had gone to the beach for a picnic. They had gone to Holiday Camp, about four km far from Chorwad, popular as Dhirubhai Ambani’s native.
The group was enjoying their time on the beach when a high tidal wave engulfed two women. To save them, other three women went further into the sea, but the rough waves engulfed them too. Later four women went to save them, followed by another four. As many as 13 women were trapped in the strong currents.
Villagers rushed to help, but could save only 4 of the 13 women. All of the women were in the age group of 18-24 years. Soon ‘108’ emergency services were called and three of the survivors were rushed to a local hospital.
“Those who survived were bleeding profusely as they had severe head injuries. Post-mortem is being done on the dead bodies,” said Krishna Pansuria, an official with ‘108’ services.
The Holiday Camp at Chorwad has been one of the most popular destinations in the state for picnics. “But the sea is generally rough and considering rocky reefs, it is not advisable to swim,” said a villager.
“The notice boards advising people not to venture into the sea have been removed and are no longer there to warn tourists,” said Mohan Chudasma, a local of Chorwad.
Holiday Camp of Chorwad is the place where Nawab saheb Mohabbat Khan of Junagadh built a palace by the sea. The palace was taken over by the Tourism Corporation of Gujarat in 1974 and converted into a resort.
“The place is not preferred much by tourists due to lack of good services by the tourism corporation. The sea has killed as many as 50 people in the past 35 years,” added Chudasma.
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