7 youths drown in India’s river Ganga after trying to take selfie

Seven youth were drowned in India’s river Ganga after a selfie session went awry, police said Thursday.

The deaths took place at Kanpur district, about 89 km west of Lucknow city, the capital of Uttar Pradesh.

“Seven youths had gone to take a bath in the river Ganga here yesterday and one of them while taking selfie lost balance and was swept by a strong current of water,” a police official said. “The six friends accompanying him drowned one after another in a bid to rescue others.”

Police has fished out bodies from the river.

Authorities earlier this year declared 16 no-selfie zones around India’s financial capital Mumbai city, after several deaths of people were reported while taking their own pictures.

The sites which include popular sea-fronts like Bandra Bandstand, Marine Drive and Juhu Chowpatty have been declared unsafe by Mumbai Police for the new medium of taking selfies with mobile phones.

The move was aimed at discouraging people from putting themselves at risk while taking their own pictures popularly known as selfies. Taking selfies is the new popular culture across the world, reports XINHUA, NEW DELHI.