Bali, one of the top rated international tourism spot for the travelers in Indonesia, became a death bed for a 37-year-old Indian-origin economist who drowned at a beach on Saturday after strong waves puller her away from the shore while she was swimming in a restricted area, reported the Indonesian media.
Aakansha Pande, a US citizen, resided in Singapore and worked with the World Bank as a Senior Health Economist where she focused on countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). On the day of incident Pande was warned by the lifeguard for her safety and was said not to swim in the banned area as there were strong currents.
Ignoring their warning massages the young economist kept swimming at the Double Six Beach and eventually got drowned. According to the Jakarta Post report, the lifeguard officials said that the beach lifeguard had warned Pande twice before the incident took place. They tried to revive her and took her to Siloam Hospital where she was declared brought dead by the doctor.
The lifeguards said that she was swimming in an area where swimming was banned due to strong currents. "We have put (no swimming) signs in the area. But she kept swimming," said the officials.
The death of Pande was confirmed by the Bali Police spokesman Hengky Widjaja. As quoted by Indonesian daily Jakarta Post, Widjaja said "The victim was dragged out by the current and then helped by lifeguards. Then the victim was taken to Siloam Hospital around 5:15 pm, but the victim's life could not be saved."
Earlier, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) had warned about the high waves that would hit Bali.
Pande's husband refused an autopsy, said the Bali Police spokesman. He said that there were no signs of external violence found on the woman's body.
