Maharashtra: Popular travel influencer falls to death while shooting near waterfall

Mumbai: In a tragic mishap, Mumbai based 27-year-old travel influence Aanvi Kamdar died after falling into a gorge while filming an Instagram reel at the Kumbhe Waterfall at Mangaon in Maharashtra’s Raigad district. Kamdar, a chartered accountant by profession, was working with a reputed consulting firm Deloitte. Known on Instagram as @theglocaljournal, she had 2.6 lakh followers.

According to the Mangaon police, Kamdar, a resident of Mumbai’s Mulund area, had gone to the picturesque waterfall at Mangaon on Tuesday for an outing with her friends amid rains. While shooting a video, she slipped and fell into the 300-foot gorge.

Her friends immediately alerted the local authorities, who responded quickly by dispatching a rescue team along with support from the Coast Guard, Kolad rescue team and Maharashtra State Electricity Board staff.

“As soon as we reached the spot, we realised that the girl had fallen nearly 300-350 feet. Even after reaching her, it was difficult to get her up, as she was injured and it was raining heavily. So we decided to get her out using a vertical pulley,” a rescuer said.

The rescue operation faced additional difficulties due to the continuous rain and falling rocks. “Large stones kept falling down the gorge, which made the rescue operation even more dangerous,” another rescuer said.

After a six-hour operation, Kamdar was finally pulled out of the gorge. However, she had suffered severe injuries in the fall. Her rescuers rushed her to the nearby Mangaon Taluka government hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries during treatment.

Kamdar’s tragic death has raised awareness about the dangers of shooting videos in risky locations. After the incident, the Tehsildar of Mangaon and the Mangaon Police Inspector appealed to tourists to be cautious while visiting waterfalls and not to put their lives at risk.

Incidentally, in her post last month, Kamdar had recommended Maharashtra as the top monsoon spot in the country, mentioning offbeat locations like Bhadardara and Gangapur.

Few days back, five members of a family, including two minors, drowned near Bhusi Dam in Pune’s Lonavala. The video of the incident also surfaced online. A 38- year-old trekker Swapnil Dhawade, was also swept away to death by strong currents while trekking in the Tahmini Ghat area, earlier this month.