A 26-year-old Instagram influencer has died while reportedly trying to film a reel for her social media pages.
Aanvi Kamdar slipped and fell into a 300-foot gorge while at Kumbhe waterfall in Maharashtra state in India, and tragically lost her life.
Kamdar was on the trip with seven friends and decided to try and capture the moment in the picturesque area before the accident happened at around 10.30am on 16 July, police said.
Police and emergency services, including an ambulance and members of the Coast Guard, attended the scene when her friends raised the alarm after the fall.
But despite a lengthy rescue operation, she was sadly pronounced dead hours later.
A rescuer told local news NDTV: “She had fallen about 300-350 feet. Despite reaching her, rescuing her was challenging due to her injuries and heavy rain, so we used a vertical pulley.”
Authorities in Raigad said she was brought out of the gorge after a six-hour rescue operation but died late on Tuesday at a local hospital.
Kamdar used the handle @theglocaljournal on Instagram to post photos of her travels, as well as provide snippets of tips and hacks for others who were travelling to areas she had been to.
She was well-known for her love of monsoon tourism, and her page has more than 270,000 followers.
Local officials in Maharashtra have since urged tourists to prioritise safety and avoid risky behaviour.
Speaking on a recent post, Kamdar wrote about the love of her social media work: “Usually, I don’t return to a place because I’m always eager to see something new. However, there’s such joy in revisiting familiar spots. I first came here with a close friend, then on a solo trip, and now I’ve brought my mom, who hasn’t been here before.“Can we normalize going to the same places again? Yet, I also want to explore new destinations because both time and money are limited!”
And fans lined up to pay tribute.
One, going by the name sonakshii_arora, wrote: “She wrote in caption - time is so limited, little did she knew, it really was. Rest in peace Aanvi,” while another added: “May her soul rest in peace ..... Uh will be missed Aanvi ❤️”
Another added: “Adventure is the bridge between dreams and reality. When we walk across that bridge, we can explore the unknown and uncover hidden wonders. With every step, we move closer to our ambitions, passions, and goals. Adventure gives us the courage to take risks and make bold decisions – decisions that help shape our destiny. Rip💔”
Kamdar is the latest in a line of influencers who have died taking risky content.
Bikini climber Gigi Wu died in 2019 after falling into a ravine during a solo hike in Taiwan while travel blogging group ‘High on Life’ - consisting of members Ryker Gamble, Megan Scraper and Alexey Lyakh - died in 2018 after falling from Shannon Falls in British Columbia while attempting to take photos near the waterfall’s edge.
