00:00We are hearing from family and friends of the victims whose beach day came to a tragic end.
00:05Yeah, they were swept into the water near Panther Beach in Santa Cruz County last winter.
00:09Panther Beach, okay, on the Santa Cruz near, okay.
00:12Rescue swimmers brought them to shore, but they both died in the hospital.
00:15Oh my God.
00:16Night Witness News reporter J.R. Stone has new information about the victims.
00:2020-year-old Mahiyal Sarra, who is a San Jose State University student, died after being swept into the ocean
00:28here in...
00:28So it looks like Indian ocean.
00:31Santa Cruz County with her friend last week.
00:33We put eight rescue swimmers in the water.
00:36Eyewitness, he is the eyewitness, okay.
00:39And we had a number of people up on the banks observing and helping to point out where the people
00:46were.
00:46New details from Kyle Breton, Santa Cruz Country Fire Captain.
00:52Those swimmers were able to bring Saran to shore.
00:55They also brought her friend, 21-year-old Harshita Nair, who attended UC Berkeley to shore.
01:01Harshita Nair, yes.
01:03Or, but sadly, both died.
01:05Both died, oh my God.
01:06Two local college students swept into the ocean last week.
01:10There were early reports that the two may have been sleeping when they were pulled into the water.
01:15Two are sleeping, yeah.
01:17They are sleeping and water pulled them inside.
01:19See?
01:19Sea water pulled them inside.
01:21A witness tells authorities that was not the case.
01:24And Mahial's father tells me, his daughter's bag and phone never got wet.
01:30He believes they were close to the water, then hit by a wave.
01:34So the tide had definitely come in.
01:35And one of the problems here is that Panther and Yellow Bank Beach are separated by what we call the
01:40keyhole.
01:40And as soon as the tide comes in or gets high, the keyhole is inaccessible.
01:44Oh, this is the place they were talking about, okay?
01:49People go through the keyhole thinking they're going to have a great day at the beach.
01:54And then all of a sudden they get cut off and options run out very, very quickly.
01:58Santa Cruz County Fire Captain Kyle Bratton says a sneaker wave may be to blame.
02:03Yes, a sneaker wave.
02:05A sneaker wave is that the wave that comes so often, not like really, really often, but often.
02:12And it takes you, it pulls you inside the sea.
02:16The 26th student body president at UC Berkeley says that Nair's focus as an intern was to help marginalize communities
02:23of color.
02:24She was such an incredible person and she always made the...
02:28May God, God rest in peace their souls.
02:30To get to know other people is very consistent in showing up.
02:35And I would say that she's someone who embodies...
02:38The voice you're hearing right now is Abigail Marino, former UC Berkeley student body president.
02:44Is what it means to be part of a community larger than yourself.
02:48With a beach hazard statement still in effect, crews say be careful along the coast, especially in Santa Cruz County.
02:55Yes, be safe guys, be safe if you go there.
02:58Within a one mile stretch of beach here, we've run five rescues in the past month.
03:03Oh my God.
03:04And narratively, we run about six to eight ocean rescues a year along this section of...
03:09Oh, okay.
03:12Rest in peace to their souls, rest in peace.
03:14Rest in peace is a march.æš—ques
03:14There's no
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