Panaji: The Palolem coast witnessed a triple rescue of tourists earlier today while there was a double rescue at Galgibaga and a single rescue at Varca beach.
At about 11:05hrs at Palolem beach, a large group of people were swimming. Among them was a 29 year old woman from Delhi and two men, aged 27 and 31, one from Haryana and the other from Kolkata who got caught up in a rip current. They struggled to swim back to the shore. Drishti lifesavers Suraj Mehta and Manjunath Pagi noticed the trio and rushed to the spot along with rescue equipment. While Suraj secured two victims on the rescue board, the other victim was saved using the rescue tube. Drishti lifesaver operating the Jetski, Parshuram Pagi brought each of the victims back to safety. Their vitals were checked and found to be normal.
In another incident that took place, a Goan family of four were bathing at Galgibagh river. Drishti lifesaver Praveen Sagekar warned the family of the presence of a rip current. Despite several warnings, the family continued swimming. After a while, two out of the four, one man aged 50 and the other boy, aged 10 found themselves in distress after being caught in a rip current. Drishti lifesaver Praveen on alert, immediately rushed to the victims and secured them using a rescue tube, bringing them back to safety.
At Varca beach, at about 10:40 hrs, a family from Uttar Pradesh entered the waters. Among them was a 38 year old lady who drifted deeper into the sea and was caught in a rip current. Drishti lifesaver Santosh Raiker noticed the victim in danger and rushed to her aid. The tourist was secured with a rescue tube and brought back to safety.
Ashvem and Patnem too witnessed rescues of a single lady from each of the beaches. Lifesavers posted on the beach conducted the rescues.
Drishti Marine, the state appointed lifesaving agency, had deployed additional lifesavers across beaches in north and south Goa as the beaches are packed with people as it’s the festive holiday season. Patrolling hours have been extended till 23:00 hours till the first week of Jan 2021. Additionally on December 24, December 25 the lifesavers manned the beaches till 01:00hrs in the morning and will do the same on new years eve on 31st December 2020.
