Couple Leaps 90 Feet Into Gorge During Photoshoot to Avoid Oncoming Train
A married couple was forced to leap from a train trestle into a 90-foot gorge to avoid an oncoming locomotive that interrupted their scenic photoshoot, Indian business news website LiveMint reported.
Horrifying footage shows the couple diving from India’s Goram Ghat Bridge in Pali, Rajasthan, India moments before a huge passenger engine passes over the very spot in which they stood.
"They were walking on the meter gauge railway line on Goram Ghat bridge when suddenly [a] Marwar passenger train from Kamlighat railway station approached," authorities explained.
Witnesses reported that the couple was deeply absorbed in taking photos and creating other content for their social media pages. They seemed completely unaware of the encroaching train until it was nearly upon them, fellow sightseers said.
The video, recorded mere feet from the train, shows the locomotive bearing down on the pair. Though the actual moment of their jump isn’t seen on-screen, it appears they decided to make the dive at the very last moment just as the train stopped where they were standing.
Warning, the videos may be disturbing to some viewers.
#WATCH: Couple On Photoshoot Jumps Into 90-Ft Gorge To Avoid Getting Run Over By Train#ViralVideo #Couple #Rajasthan #Pali #Viral pic.twitter.com/nTpAqiNg2e
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The victims were confirmed to be Rahul Mewada, 22, and Jhanvi Mewada, 20. Miraculously, both survived the fall; however, they sustained “grievous injuries” in the process. Rahul’s condition is reportedly “particularly severe.”
Emergency services quickly arrived at the scene and transported the Mewadas to a local hospital, where their injuries were evaluated and found to be “significant.”
The Mewada’s case eerily mirrors that of a woman in Mexico City, who was struck and killed while trying to take a selfie next to the tracks as famed locomotive Empress 2816 passed by.
In recent years, the Goram Ghat Bridge has become a popular destination amongst locals and tourists alike, who flock to its panoramic vista for social media photo opps. However, local authorities are considering implementing stricter safety policies after this incident.
Another video posted to social media last year offers a closer look at the trestle, which appears to offer little or no protection to keep civilians off the tracks. In the clip, several teenagers are standing on the opposite side of the bridge when the engine passes, forcing a few of them to jump into a much shallower ravine as one squats precariously on the side of the tracks.