Three youngsters, who had gone inside forest for a photowalk, get trapped for seven hours before civic officials, fire brigade rescue them The three youngsters, who went to Yeoor around 8 am, were finally rescued at 3 pm on Sunday. File pic A fun photowalk trip to Yeoor forest in Sanjay Gandhi National Park turned into a nightmare for three men, after they lost their way inside and were trapped in the deep for over seven hours. The youngsters, all of whom hail from Thane, were rescued after they reached out to the police control room for help. Shreyas Sharadchandra Bansode, 21, Utsav Gopal Menon, 20, and Anees Sanjay Tevarekar, 21, had planned a trip to Yeoor to brush up their nature and wildlife photography skills, early on Sunday. This is not the first time that the trio had gone into the forest. "We all are photography enthusiasts, so we plan such trips often," said Bansode, who recently graduated with a Bachelor of Mass Media (BMM) degree in advertising. "We usually go by 8 am and return by 11 am. We also carry biscuits and water for emergency," he added. Shreyas Bansode However, on Sunday, while walking through the otherwise, familiar trail, they accidentally took a wrong turn and lost their way. "We are frequent visitors, but since it was raining, we got confused," Bansode added. The trio spent over three hours trying to find a way out. However, the further they went, the more difficult it became to locate the exit. "Finally, around 2 pm, after trying our best, we made a call to the control room helpline, 100," Bansode added. Utsav Gopal Menon The control room immediately alerted the disaster management cell of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), which in turn, informed the fire brigade. "Fortunately, their mobile numbers were reachable. Our team, along with the fire brigade, rescued them within an hour," said Santosh Kadam, regional head of disaster management cell, TMC. Bansode and his friends, who are now back home after the traumatic experience, said they are grateful to the authorities for their prompt response. "Within 30 minutes, I received more than 40 calls from the authorities asking me for our location. We were out by 3 pm," said Bansode.

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