2 TN tourists drown in sea off Goa

A group of eight tourists from Karnataka and TN visited the Baga beach in North Goa district on Saturday evening.

“Three of the group members went to a rocky stretch in the waters. As they were clicking selfies on their mobile phones, a strong sea wave hit them,” Calangute police inspector Jivba Dalvi said.

While two of the group members managed to swim to safety, the third person, identified as Dinesh Kumar Ranganathan (28) from Vellore drowned in the waters, he said. The body was fished out later.

In the second incident, four tourists all from TN were sitting on a rocky patch in the waters at Siquerim beach near Fort Aguada on Sunday morning.

Even as they were clicking pictures on their phones, one of them was swept away by a strong sea wave. The deceased was identified as Sasikumar Vasan (33).

After the police conducted the inquest procedure in both the cases, the bodies were shifted to the Goa Medical College and Hospital near here for post-mortem, Dalvi added.

The Goa government had last month issued an advisory asking tourists to refrain from swimming in seawaters along beaches for four months starting from June 1.

The State government prohibits swimming and other water sports activities on beaches during the monsoon season from June to August each year as a precautionary step.

A firm appointed by the Goa government to provide lifeguards at beaches had recently said that red flags will be put up at beaches in the State to warn people about dangers of wading or swimming in the sea during the monsoon.