Picnic turns tragic as two couples drown in waterfall

Four members of a family drowned in a waterfall while they were enjoying a picnic in Chhattisgarh's Koriya district, police said Tuesday.

The mishap took place on Monday at Bagnachcha waterfall in Badkapahar village, around 150 km from neighbouring Korba district, Kelhari police station house officer (SHO) Janak Ram Kurre said.

The deceased were identified as Mohammad Tahir (26), his wife Saina Parveen (21), brother-in-law Niyaz Ahmed (26) and the latter's wife Sana Parveen (22), he said.

Tahir, a native of Jaunpur district in Uttar Pradesh, recently came to his in-laws' place in Manendragarh area of Koriya.

On Monday, the two couples went for an outing at the Baganchcha waterfall, he said.

As per preliminary information, Tahir and Ahmed ventured into the waterfall for taking a bath but were swept away as they failed to assess the water's depth, the SHO said.

When their wives saw them drowning, the two women also stepped into the waterfall in a bid to save them, but they also drowned, he said.

The four bodies were later fished out and sent for postmortem, he added.