Daijiworld Media Network - Mandya (SP)

Mandya, Feb 13: Craze for clicking selfies has taken three precious lives. Out of five medical students who had posed for a selfie by standing in the water of Vishweshwaraiah canal in the outskirts of the town, three were washed away due to the force of gushing water. Two have survived the ordeal. This tragic incident occurred in the outskirts of the town on Friday February 12.

The deceased are J Jeevan (24), son of S Jayaramu from Cubbonpet Bengaluru, L P Shruti (23), daughter of L Prakash from Rajajinagar, and Girish (24), son of Sridhar from Tumakuru. While bodies of Shruti and Jeevan were recovered later, search is on for the mortal remains of Girish.

To facilitate search operations, the flow of water in the canal has been regulated, and vents in the upper region have been closed. Police personnel and firemen are involved with the search. Out of the five, three were residents of Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS) hostel.

Gautam Patel (23), son of H K Manjunath from Vijayanagara second stage Mysuru, and B Sindhu (23) have escaped from tragedy. Both are being treated at MIMS hospital here. Sridhar had shifted his residence and stays at Ashokagar extension next to MIMS to facilitate son's education.

These five had completed their medical education and were deployed for internship on Thursday with rural service and training under community health service programme. They had been asked to serve at the primary health centre at Keragodu in the taluk. All the five went to Keragodu in motor bikes, and when returning, entered the canal which is located on the way, clicked selfies, and also forwarded some such photos to their friends. On Friday, the group again began to play in the canal and click selfies. Locals had warned them to be careful. They had parked the motor bikes on the banks of the canal and gone to another spot for adventure, where they got caught unawares by the force of water draft. Shruti, Jeevan, and Girish, who did not know how to swim, got washed away. Gautam and Sindhu were rescued by locals. People of Hulivana village nearby and others passing by the road got together on the banks of the canal, and the police had a tough time controlling the mob.

Just before returning from Keragodu, the students had taken part in a send-off function organized there for administrative officer of the primary health centre, Dr Doreswamy, who had been transferred.