Eight people saved from drowning in Goa

At least eight people were saved from drowning at different places in Goa where tourists thronged beaches on the New Year eve on Thursday, said an official.

A spokesman of the private agency mandated by the government to deploy lifeguards at beaches in the state said three tourists were rescued from the sea at Palolem in South Goa.

These were a 29-year-old woman from Delhi and two men, aged 27 and 31, from Haryana and Kolkata, respectively, he said.

A few kilometers away from Palolem, two members of a Goan family - a 50-year-old man and his 10-year-old son - were rescued from the Galgibag river when they were drowning, the spokesman said.

At Varca beach in South Goa, a 38-year-old woman from Uttar Pradesh was rescued from the sea, he said.

Two more women were rescued by lifeguards during the day - one each at Ashvem beach (North Goa) and Patnem (South Goa) - the spokesman said.

He said the agency has deployed additional lifeguards across beaches in north and south Goa which are packed with tourists.