Team Herald
PANJIM: Playing football by the beach almost turned fatal for a tourist from Kolkata, who was among the five persons rescued from drowning off various beaches by lifesavers over the last weekend.
A 23-year-old man from West Bengal was playing football with a friend at Cavelossim beach, when the ball accidentally landed in deep water. When the person waded into the water to retrieve the ball, he started to drown. Lifesaver Prasad Velip who was on patrol nearby, immediately sprang into action, using a surfboard to reach the victim and bring him back to shore.
In another incident, a 51-year-old woman from Russia was saved from drowning off Morjim beach, after she could not navigate the strong sea current to reach back to the safety of the shore. Her calls for help caught the attention of lifesavers Vikas Chawan and Anand Parab, who used a surfboard and a jetski to reach the woman and bring her safely ashore.
At Agonda beach, a husband’s desperate cries to save his drowning wife, led to the rescue of a 33-year-old woman from Hyderabad, who was caught in a strong current off Agonda beach. The couple were swimming in the water when they encountered a strong current, which the woman was unable to cope with. Her husband’s cries for help were heard by lifesaver Ratnakar Velip who quickly responded, entering the water with a rescue tube and bringing the woman safely back to shore.
Also at Baga beach, the lifesavers rescued a couple in their late 20s from Rajasthan from drowning, after a powerful current pulled them apart and deeper into the waters.