Pond in Raiya village where the incident takes place

RAJKOT: Three persons including two youth drowned when they tried to save two girls who fell into a pond while taking a selfie in Raiya village near Rajkot on Tuesday.

The deceased were identified as Shakti Solanki (17), Ajay Parmar (18) and Tribhuvan Merja (35).

According to police, Shakti and Ajay had come with two girls Pooja (17) and Darshana (17) at the pond near Parshuram temple in Raiya village. While they were enjoying the view, Pooja was attempting to take a selfie of the four with water body in the background.

However, she slipped and fell in the pond. While falling she dragged Darshana along with her. Shakti and Ajay jumped into the water to save the girls. At the same time, Merja, who was feeding the fish in the pond nearby, saw the four struggling to stay afloat. Merja, who knew swimming, jumped into the pond and saved the two girls. But when he went deeper to save the two youth, all three drowned. Their bodies were fished out later by the officials of Rajkot fire brigade.

