Bhubaneswar, Nov 19: Two college students have gone missing after being swept away in the Gummajharan waterfall in Malkangiri district, triggering an extensive search operation. The missing youths have been identified as Lingaraj Mohapatra and S. Shreekhar, both Plus III second-year students of Vikram Dev University, Jeypore.

According to reports, the incident occurred when a group of four students from the university had visited the picturesque waterfall for a picnic on Tuesday. While attempting to take a selfie near the slippery edge, three of them accidentally lost balance and fell into the waterfall. The strong current immediately pulled them downstream. Although local residents managed to rescue one of the students, Lingaraj and Shreekhar were carried away and remain untraced.

Following the incident, police, fire service personnel, and a 16-member ODRAF team launched a coordinated search operation. However, the efforts had to be suspended due to darkness and resumed early the next morning. Mathili police station officer Dipanjali Majhi confirmed that the search is still underway, with locals also assisting the rescue teams.

The tragedy has once again raised concerns about safety at the waterfall, where two brothers from Jeypore had drowned in 2024.

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