13 tourists including Russian woman saved from drowning off Goa beaches

Panaji: Thirteen tourists, including a Russian woman, have been rescued from drowning across various beaches in Goa over the last three days, a lifesaving agency said on Tuesday.

Four men in their mid-20s, all residents of Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh, were saved off the Arambol beach in North Goa district with the help of a rescue board and jet ski, it said without elaborating.

Another 25-year-old man from Hyderabad and a 23-year-old native of Rajasthan were rescued after they were caught in a rip current while swimming in the waters off the Arambol beach, said a spokesperson of Drishti Lifesaving, the agency appointed by the Goa government.

At Baga beach in North Goa, five friends from Karnataka and Pune (Maharashtra), in the age group of 22 to 26 years, ventured into the waters and one of them started drowning.

The other four tried to save him, but they also got caught in the rough current.

All the five persons were later brought safely to the shore by lifesavers and were provided first aid, the spokesperson said.

In other similar incidents, a 36-year-old Russian woman and a 21-year-old man from Bengaluru were caught in rip currents off Mandrem and Calangute beaches, respectively.

The agency lifeguards later saved them using rescue boards, he said.

Besides, two missing children -- a 4-year-old girl from Madhya Pradesh and a child from Mumbai -- were located by the agency at Calangute and Baga beaches and reunited with their parents, he added.