Drishti Marine lifesavers pulled off a heroic multiple rescue, thus averting a major tragedy off Baga Beach on Thursday afternoon.
According to a press release, a joyride boat carrying tourists from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh capsised around 100 metres off the river mouth at Baga beach in North Goa on October 10, at around 2:50 pm. The incident occurred after the boat was hit by a rogue wave, causing it to overturn, throwing occupants of the boat in the sea.
Drishti Marine lifesaver Suraj Nibalkar, who was the first to notice the accident, raised an alarm and alerted his colleagues, before rushing to the site in a rescue boat. There were around 12 tourists, including children, in the boat at the time of the accident.
Responding to the call by Nibalkar, other lifesavers posted on Baga and Calangute beaches, namely Vinod Gaonkar, Leslie Rodrigues, Harish Chopdekar and Akash Fulkari rushed to assist in the rescue mission with jet skis. Even as lifesaver, Budhaji, joined forces with another rescue board, the remaining lifesavers, Rohan Gadi, Sushant Gaonkar, Umesh Madaikar and Payekar stayed put on the shore in readiness to attend to the rescued tourists once they were brought ashore.
During the rescue operation, lifesaver Akash managed to rescue two children — a four-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy — who were trapped under the overturned boat and brought them safely ashore, where they were attended to by the lifesavers who had formed a shore party.
A 42-year-old woman was also pulled out from under the boat and brought ashore. On examination, it was revealed that she had no pulse or breath. After administering one cycle of CPR, she was revived and handed over to 108 medical services, who shifted her to a medical facility.
A 35-year-old man, who was rescued, had to be placed in a recovery position until his airway was cleared by a trained Drishti Marine lifesaver. After he partially recovered, he was sent to the community health centre at Candolim and later shifted to a medical facility.
