The techie couple from South India was apparently taking a selfie in an area with steep terrain during their trip to Yosemite National Park last week, a media report suggested.
29-year-old Vishnu Viswanath and his 30-year-old wife Meenakshi Moorthy fell to their deaths from Taft Point in the national park in California. They hailed from South India and were living in the United States.
Citing Viswanath’s Brother Jishnu Viswanath, Fox News said that they were apparently taking a selfie at the Taft Point which does not have a railing to protect visitors from the ledge. He added that Moorthy had set up the tripod by the ledge possibly to take a selfie.
However, Jamie Richards, a spokeswoman for Yosemite National Park, said it is too soon to speculate on the reason. Investigators still do not know how they plunged to their deaths last Wednesday from the iconic overlook high above Yosemite Valley. She said the investigation is expected to take several weeks, The Mercury News reported. "We still don't have any clear idea exactly what happened," Richards said. "We are still trying to piece it together."
Rangers had arrived at the scene Thursday and "used high-powered binoculars to find them and used helicopters to airlift the bodies. The couple, who through their social media posts chronicled their travelling adventures, also wrote a blog called 'Holidays and HappilyEverAfters'.
Just months before her tragic death, Moorthy had warned in an Instagram post the dangers of taking photographs on the edge of cliffs and atop skyscrapers. She posted a picture of herself at the Grand Canyon, saying in the caption that "A lot of us including yours truly is a fan of daredevilry attempts of standing at the edge of cliffs. But did you know that wind gusts can be fatal? Is our life worth one photo?
In an eerie coincidence, Moorthy appears in the selfie of another tourist couple at Taft Point, just minutes before she plummeted to her death.
(agency inputs)