Entire family killed after ‘selfie-loving sisters drown taking pics near waterfall and four die trying to save them’
SIX members of the same family have died in the same beauty spot on Sunday after trying to save a teenager, 14, who had ventured near a waterfall to take a selfie.
The picnic day out turned to tragedy for the 15 family members who decided to stop by the Ramdaha Falls of Chhattisgarh – a spot of natural beauty in central India.
Upon arrival, two sisters, Shraddha and Shweta Singh, 14 and 22, entered the water to take a selfie but the teen quickly got into trouble after losing her footing, witnesses said.
Other members of the family, including their bother Himanshu Singh, 18, their cousin Rishabh Singh, 24 and his wife Sulekha Singh (22) jumped in holding hands to try and rescue the sisters.
Brothers Abhay Singh (22) and Ratnesh Singh (26) also got into the plunge pool to help.
Within moments of jumping in to save Shraddha and Shweta, their relatives all began drowning in deep water, witnesses said.
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Bystanders alerted the authorities, and officers began a search and rescue mission with the help of divers from the State Disaster Emergency Relief Force (SDERF).
Tragically, the bodies of three persons were retrieved on Sunday evening, while three other bodies were recovered on Monday morning, officials confirmed.
Only Sulekha, from Madhya Pradesh, was pull out alive.
Police sent the bodies for autopsy before they were handed to their relatives, Korea District Magistrate Kuldeep Sharma told Times of India.
Sulekha’s condition is reported to be critical and she is undergoing treatment in hospital.
Police claimed the visitors had ventured into waterfall pool despite a caution signboard placed at the picnic spot urging people not to bathe in the water.
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This tragic incident comes less than six months after three young men, from Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh, drowned in the same spot.
Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan at the time expressed grief over the incident, which also happened during a picnic.