Sneaker wave claims father and son

By Ritu Jha-

A holidaying father and son were dragged in by a rip tide at Cowell Ranch State Beach at Half Moon Bay in California, January 19.

The boy, Vihaan Mukund, 8, was apparently overwhelmed by a sneaker wave – which can surge further up the beach and catch the unwary. His father, Mukund Kalyanaraman Murali, 39, ran in to save the boy and was caught by the tide, too.

While state parks lifeguards and rescuers did reach them, the father and son could not be revived and died at Stanford Medical Center, parks officials told the Sacramento Bee. The family was there as part of a weeklong trip.

Anandraj Maharaj, a friend of the father, told indica that the tragedy was compounded by the fact that Murali’s wife is expecting and the baby is due in the next six weeks.

Maharaj said Murali, a hardware engineer at Nvidia, was a top student at Madras Institute of Technology (MIT) India in Chennai, where they first met.

Maharaj will be traveling to San Jose, where the family lives, to attend the funeral on Thursday, scheduled at Chapel of the Roses in Fremont, California.

In a statement, the California State Parks spokesperson said, “We extend our deepest sympathy to the family for this devastating loss.”