All of them were employees of the Reliance BPO operating from Koparkhairne.

“They had gone for a private picnic on Sunday and were supposed to return by Monday night,” said K Chandrashekhar, president of Reliance BPO. Around 12.30 pm, he said, 15 of them went into the sea to swim. They failed to notice the high tide and the strong currents.

“A strong wave swept eight of them. But only two could be saved,” added Chandrashekhar.

Pratap Digahvakar, Superintendent of Police, Raigad, said, the picnickers entered the water during low tide. But the water level went up suddenly and they were caught in strong currents. “The spot where these people were swimming is the confluence of the Arabian sea and the creek.”

The deceased have been identified as Manoj Parmar from Mulund, Mamta Nahak (25) from Anushakti Nagar, Naseer Sheikh (35) from Mulund, Neelkanth Iyer (26) from Ambernath and Noor Mansuri (25) and Kingston Paul (30) from Chembur. Noor’s body has not been recovered yet.