Vizag man drowns while taking selfies in Gadhigumma waterfalls

Selfies can sometimes be deadly. We hear and read about incidents of selfies going wrong and proving to be fatal — some die while taking a selfie, while lucky ones have a close shave. Selfie craze has claimed yet another life in Vizag. A 32-year-old man from Vizag drowned while trying to take selfies in Gadhigumma waterfalls on Sunday.

According to reports, the deceased has been identified as S Ramana, a native of Pedamakaram village under Koyyuru Mandal. On Sunday, Mr Ramana arrived at Gadhigumma to attend the wedding ceremony of his relatives. At around 2 PM, he went to the Gadhigumma waterfalls for sightseeing the picturesque locales, along with his friends. Enjoying the view, the Vizag man started taking selfies. The 32-year-old decided to click a picture standing on the edge of a rock. For a better angle, he took one step back, slipped and fell into the waters, police sources said.

Based on the information from a few visitors, the local police had launched a search operation to trace the missing person. They retrieved the body on Monday. The body has been sent to Narsipatnam Area Hospital for postmortem.

The locals lamented that the waterfalls have turned into a death trap for the visitors. It is unfortunate that despite the warnings from the locals, the visitors have been ignoring them and losing their lives over the craze for selfies.

Earlier in November 2021, a class 8 student from Vizag visited the beach along with his friends. Apparently, he went for a swim in the sea and the strong tide drowned him. The locals and the police soon got to know about the incident and came to the boy’s aid. He was rescued and taken to King George Hospital (KGH) in the city for treatment. However, it was too late and the boy was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.