Bhopal: At least a dozen tourists were on Wednesday evening washed away and around 30 others still trapped inside a flooded waterfall in a Madhya Pradesh.
The tragedy took place in the Sultangarh waterfall in Shivpuri district. Seven trapped people have so far been rescued by an Indian Air Force (IAF) chopper, reports reaching last said.
“Rescue operation is on to save all the people trapped in the flooded waterfall,” Gwalior district superintendent of police N. Bhasin, who was on the spot, said.
Strong wind coupled with poor light had been hampering the rescue operation, official sources said.
Although, there was no confirmation of casualties in the tragedy officially, unconfirmed reports said 12 picnickers who were taking bath at the foot of the waterfall, were washed away.
Eyewitness accounts said around 40 youths had gone to the waterfall for picnicking on the occasion of Independence Day celebration.
Around a dozen of them were swept away while taking bath under the waterfall when water in the nearby dam was released flooding the stream suddenly.
A video showing the youths being swept away in the flooded waterfall went viral alerting the local people who later drew the attention of the police to the tragedy.
Police along with a team of state disaster rapid action force tried to rescue the trapped people through ropes, but failed to due to strong current and rising water level in the stream.
