Around 11.20 am, Aditya Tawade had gone to the lake with his friends, Kunal Suresh, Mohammad Faizan and Danish Shah, for a swim. According to Kunal, Aditya and Mohammad decided to race to the far end of the lake.

Mumbai: A 19-year-old youth drowned while swimming in Sheetal Talao on LBS Road in Kurla West on Friday morning after running out of breath during a race with a friend.Around 11.20 am, Aditya Tawade had gone to the lake with his friends, Kunal Suresh, Mohammad Faizan and Danish Shah, for a swim. According to Kunal, Aditya and Mohammad decided to race to the far end of the lake.“Aditya and Mohammad decided to race each other to the other end of the lake. I was sitting on the lakeside when they jumped into the water,” said Kunal.Midway through the race, Aditya began struggling to stay afloat after running out of breath. Faizan, who was swimming some distance away, noticed him in distress and immediately tried to reach him but was unable to do so because of the strong current. Kunal then attempted to use a boat docked near the lake to rescue Aditya, but found it inoperable. Danish also jumped into the water and swam towards Aditya, but by then he had already consumed a significant amount of water and disappeared beneath the surface.After receiving a call from the friends, Aditya’s brother, Rohit Tawade, alerted the Mumbai Fire Brigade at 11.52 am. Fire brigade personnel reached the spot shortly after noon and retrieved Aditya from the lake. He was rushed to Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.Faizan and Danish alleged that similar drowning incidents had taken place at Sheetal Talao in the past too.Aditya’s brother, Rohit, said he had left school after Class 10 and was assisting with the family business. He lived with his parents, two brothers and an aunt near the lake in Kurla.