Two Malayali tourists drown while walking through frozen Sela Lake in Arunachal

ITANAGAR: Two Malayali youths drowned in a Sela lake in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh. Dinu (26), a native of Kollam and another Malayali, Madhav Mahadev, died in the incident. Both were part of a seven-member group that had come from Kollam on a sightseeing trip to the northeastern state bordering China. It is said that the Indian Army carried out a rescue operation and saved two from the same gang.

The accident occurred while the gang were walking through the frozen Sela Lake in Tawang. Dinu and Madhav fell into the water while trying to save a companion who had drowned in the lake. The accident occurred at around 3 pm yesterday. Dinu's body was found during a joint search by the police and the disaster relief team. The search for Madhav was called off in the evening due to poor lighting.

Dinu's body is kept at the morgue of the Jang Community Health Centre. The postmortem will be held today. The five others who had a narrow escape are being treated at the military hospital. Sela Lake, which lies like a mirror amidst the snow-capped Himalayan mountains, is covered in ice most of the year and could be treacherous. Tourists are not allowed to enter the lake, but can take the concrete walkway around the lake.