Two students died after falling off the edge of a waterfall while taking a selfie at the popular beauty spot.
Jitendranath ‘Jitu’ Karuturi and Chanhakya Bolisetti died as they were reportedly taking selfies at the Linn of Tummel waterfall near Blair of Atholl in Perthshire, Scotland on Wednesday.
According to The Guardian, 26-year-old Karuturi and 22-year-old Bolisetti were reportedly taking a photo of themselves when they slipped, toppled over the edge of the waterfall, and fell into the water.
The two students were then swept away by the water, according to a friend who accompanied them on their walk and witnessed their fatal fall.
The Scottish fire and rescue service sent two rescue boats to the river. Following searches of the area, the students’ bodies were recovered later that evening.
Details of the accident emerged on Thursday morning. Police Scotland says there were no suspicious circumstances and a report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal.
“Around 19:00 on Wednesday April 17 we received a report of two men, aged 22 and 26 years, in the water at the Linn of Tummel waterfall near Blair Atholl,” Police Scotland says in a statement.
“Emergency services attended and following searches in the area, the bodies of two men were recovered from the water.
“Inquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances, however, there would not appear to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding these deaths.”
The deaths of these two students are the latest in a string of such incidents. A little over a week ago, a tourist fell more than 170 feet to her death when she stumbled while taking a selfie from a clifftop viewing platform.
A recent study suggested that the taking selfies may now pose a “public health problem” amid the near ubiquitous use of smartphones and social media apps and the rise in tragic selfie-related deaths.
The paper scraped news reports of selfie-related deaths as well as a cross-sectional study by the iO Foundation that found 379 people were killed while taking selfies around the world between January 2008 and July 2021.
The researchers identified falls from height as the most common type of selfie-related injury. They said that tourists were most at risk, with the most common cause of death being falling from cliffs or waterfalls while attempting to take a selfie.
Image credits: Header photo by Alan Walker/ Wikimedia Commons.