Two men, one minor, drown at Charlotte lake in Matheran | Mumbai news

MUMBAI: Two men and a minor from Navi Mumbai drowned in Charlotte lake in Matheran, on Sunday evening. The police have recovered the three bodies with the help of Sahyadri Rescue, a rescue group, and sent them for postmortem.

The police said that the deceased, Aryan Khobragade, 20, Firoz Shaikh, 19, and Sumit Chavan, 16, were a part of a group of ten youngsters from Khoparkhairane, and had got into the water even though swimming in the lake is banned.

Rahul Ingle, chief officer of Matheran Municipal Council said, “This is not an accident prone spot,” and added that he hoped the postmortem would help them identify the cause of the accident.

A local shopkeeper, Megha Kadam, said that the group was at the rear end of the lake and as soon as the accident occurred, friends of the deceased rushed to her and asked locals whether water levels of the lake could be reduced.

“One needs proper security here,” said Kadam, adding that it was difficult to rescue anyone from the rear end of the lake especially after dark. She said that despite the dangers after the rains had begun, huge crowds were still coming to see the waterfalls at Matheran.

Kadam added that this was the first drowning accident in Charlotte lake after 20 years.