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Journalism of Courage
What started with a thrilling excursion for a group of tourists at Arunachal Pradesh’s Sela Pass turned into a nightmare after the ice on a frozen lake cracked, sending them plunging into the freezing water. The incident prompted Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, who is also Arunachal West MP, to urge tourists to be cautious amid extreme weather conditions.
The now-viral video shows four people including two women stuck in the frozen lake and crying for help. All four were rescued. “At Sela Pass in Arunachal Pradesh. My advice to tourists: Walk on the Frozen Lakes with experienced people, drive carefully on slippery snow roads and be aware of snow avalanche. Temperatures is freezing so wear warm clothes and enjoy. Your safety is important,” Rijiju wrote on X.
Watch the video here:
Farhad, who claimed to be an eyewitness, shared details of the incident on Instagram. “I rushed to help those who fell through, and thankfully we managed to pull them out safely. This experience reminded me how quickly things can turn dangerous. People were resisting to help them, but once I went them to help other people courageously came forward to throw, all I learned from today is good things start from you!” he wrote.
The incident quickly gained traction, causing a stir over irresponsible tourism. Several social media users slammed the tourists for ignoring the warnings before visiting the spot with one commenting, “A warning was already posted in jang times to avoid walking in the lake as it’s not frozen totally. Request to all the tourists visiting tawang dont repeat this mistake of by chance there is no one around you, you will drown and no one will know.”
Another user wrote, “Not sure how this group ended up in this tragic situation but this is exactly why you should be able to assess the risk and respect the warnings if there are any. And when they end up in such situations they expect to be rescued immediately and blame govt for not being efficient.”
