Malkangiri: Two college students went missing after being swept away in the Gummajharan waterfall in Odisha’s Malkangiri district.
The missing youths have been identified as Lingaraj Mohapatra and S Shreekhar, both students of Vikram Dev University at Jeypore in Koraput district.
As per sources, the incident took place when a group of four students from Vikram Dev University visited the waterfall for a picnic on Tuesday. While taking a selfie, three students lost balance and slipped into the waterfall. They were washed away by the strong currents. While locals managed to rescue one student, Lingaraj and Shreekhar are still missing.
On being informed, police and fire service personnel rushed to the site and launched a search operation. A 16-member team from Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and local people are also working together to trace the missing students. However, the search was delayed due to darkness and resumed the next morning.
A senior police official said that the search operation is still in progress in a coordinated manner to trace the missing youths.
It may be noted that two brothers from Jeypore city lost their lives in the same waterfall in 2024.
