Two young girls from Gurdaspur drowned while allegedly attempting to click a selfie from the edge of a bridge on Friday morning. They slipped into the swirling waters of the UBDC canal.
College student Lovepreet Kaur Masih (21) and her friend Nisha (18), a school girl, were clicking selfies when Nisha, who was perched dangerously on the edge of the Sathiali bridge, suddenly slipped and fell into the canal.
Eyewitnesses claimed that as she started falling she held on to the arm of Loverpreet Kaur which proved to be fatal for both.
Villagers, who were gathered at the spot, informed Deputy Commissioner (DC) Amit Kumar.
The DC, in turn, immediately asked the authorities concerned to reduce the flow of the water.
The SDM was entrusted with the responsibility of supervising the rescuing operation while heavy police force arrived within minutes.
The incident occurred at 5.30am and 30 minutes later half a dozen divers of district administration had started the rescue.
By noon, when the divers failed to trace the girls, the DC requisitioned their more experienced Army counterparts from the nearby Tibri cantonment.
Villagers tried every trick in the book to locate the girls. Some of them even used their turbans to go down into the canal.
Experts camping at the site said that the chances of finding the bodies appeared to be bleak because of the strong current of water.
“I have made arrangements for flood lights so that the operation can continue at night,” said DC Amit Kumar.
At the time of filing this report, the operation was still going on.
