SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. - Two young college students were killed after being swept into the ocean by rising tides and powerful surf while apparently napping near a popular beach in Southern California, according to authorities.
Multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the beach to rescue two young women, later identified as 21-year-old Harshita Nair and 20-year-old Mahial Sran, both of Fremont, according to FOX News Digital.
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Authorities said the two friends were believed to have been sleeping near the "Keyhole," which is a natural archway used to access Yellow Bank Beach, when incoming tides caught them off guard and pulled them into the water, FOX News Digital reported.
About eight rescuers jumped in to rescue the women — both of whom were rushed to hospitals where they later died, officials said.
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"What we're also seeing is that people go through the keyhole to get to Yellow Bank Beach, and then they get trapped on Yellow Bank Beach because of the tides," Santa Cruz County Volunteer Capt. Kyle Breton said in a video posted to social media.
Emergency crews said they located one woman down the shoreline where she was airlifted to Yellow Bank Beach before being taken to a local hospital.
Meanwhile, the other woman was brought to Panther Beach, where they were carried in a stoke basket to an awaiting ambulance and transported to a local hospital.
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FOX News Digital reports that Nair was a legal studies major at the University of California, Berkeley, while Sran studied public health at San José State University.
Both women graduated from Fremont's Washington High School in 2023 and were expected to complete their degrees in 2027.
The tragedy happened along a notoriously hazardous stretch of coastline known for steep surf, strong currents and so-called sneaker waves that can surge far beyond the waterline with little warning, according to FOX News Digital.
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According to the CALFIRE CZU San Mateo–Santa Cruz Unit, this was the fifth water rescue the agency has performed this past month along the one-mile stretch of coastline between Yellow Bank Beach and Bonny Doon Beach.
The dangerous water conditions were driven by a southern swell, according to the National Weather Service. This has triggered high surf events affecting both Orange and Los Angeles counties.
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office issued a warning after they said they responded to an increased number of water rescues over the past few weeks.
"Over the past few weeks, law enforcement and fire crews have responded to an increased number of water rescues," the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office said. "With warm weather expected this weekend, beaches across Santa Cruz County are expected to be crowded. Please keep safety a top priority."
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