PANAJI
The New Year weekend witnessed 25 rescues along the coast, with 14 rescues on the January 1 and 11 rescues on Jan 2, 24 of which were from Calangute.Goa has seen a surge in tourist arrival in December, especially the new year weekend, with most of the tourists headed straight for the beaches. In response to the increased tourist visits to the beach, Drishti Marine has deployed additional lifesavers across beaches in north and south Goa especially on popular beaches such as Calangute, Morjim, Arambol, Baga, Sinquerim, Miramar, Agonda, Benaulim, Colva, and Palolem.
The triple rescue at Calangute on New Year involved 3 males from Karnataka, aged 20-21 years, wherein Drishti lifesavers had to retrieve the trio using rescue boards.
Thereafter Sunday saw two multiple rescues, both of which were in Calangute. Eight males, four of which were from UP and the remaining four from Bihar, aged 17-32, were saved by lifesavers Sangarsh Asolkar, Ashwin Ghag, Siddhesh Bhosle, and Umesh Patel via surfboards.
While in the south, at Palolem, a male aged 25 from Bangalore was rescued in a kayaking incident.
Subsequently, in Ashwem, lifesaver Captain Rahul Mahale assisted in apprehending a bag snatcher and then handed over the culprit to the IRB police.
Across the weekend two children in separate incidents were lost at Colva beach, one was a 4-year-old girl from UP and the other was a 5-year-old boy from Navelim. Both the children were located by the lifesavers and were safely handed over to their respective families.
Meanwhile, at Baina a medical emergency occurred wherein a 55-year-old female from Navelim suffered an epilepsy attack. The victim was immediately rushed to the ambulance and shifted to the hospital.
