urteen computer science students of a Pune college, including twin sisters, drowned when they ventured into a treacherous sea off the Murud beach ignoring warnings during a college picnic on Monday. Six others were rescued by the local people. They also assisted the coast guard in recovering the bodies of the victims, all between 19 and 23 years. Among the 14 dead are 10 girls and four boys, including M Saif Ahmad, whose body was found last after two helicopters of the navy and one chopper of the coast guard were pressed into service in the evening.students had gone with eight teaching and three non-teaching staff of Abeda Inamdar College of Arts, Science & Commerce in Pune’s Camp area in three private buses for the picnic at Murud, about 44km from Alibaug town in Raigad district. “This is a huge drowning tragedy at Murud beach. The local authorities have put up warning signboards at the beach since there have been drownings here even in the past. The Pune students disregarded the formal warnings to venture into the water a little before 4pm, leading to the deaths,” said a Raigad police spokesperson. The horse tenders and vendors at the beach also tried to stop the youngsters from going into what appears to be “shallow waters”, but they did not listen, a Murud policeman told TOI. “Some of the students who had ventured a little too far from the shore were caught in the receding tidal waters and swept away,” another cop said. -