Killer seflie: Seven youth drown in the Ganga

Clicking a selfie turned fatal for a youth as well as six of his friends, who drowned in the Ganga today while trying to save one another, police said.

The incident happened when six youths from Juhi area and one Shivam from Colonelganj area of Kanpur district had gone to take a bath in the river after rainfall, SSP Shalabh Mathur said.

Shivam was clicking a selfie while bathing following which he lost his balance and started drowning in the river. Maqsood tried to save Shivam but he too lost his balance due to the high water level and high current following heavy rainfall, SP (West) Sachindra Patel said.

All the other friends jumped one after another to save the others but drowned in the attempt, the SP said.

A team of divers was deployed to save the youths and their bodies were recovered after two hours, Patel said, adding, all of them were sent to Medical College Hospital where they were declared dead by the doctors.

The deceased have been identified as Sachin Gupta (21), Bholu Tiwari (20), Rohit (20), Shivam (19), Maqsood (31), Bhola (16) and Satyam (24). The matter will be investigated, SSP Mathur said.

In a similar incident in Mumbai in January, three girls, had fallen into the Arabian Sea while clicking selfies on a rock jutting out of the sea near Bandra Fort. A local youth who had jumped to save them had drowned in the attempt.