West Bengal: 56-year-old tourist loses life trying to take a selfie in Digha

In a tragic incident, a 56-year old tourist lost his life while posing for a selfie in Digha, one of the famous tourist spots in West Bengal, on Wednesday morning. This railway employee had stepped over the sea guard wall for taking a picture of him when he got pulled by a giant wave into the sea.

The family of Chandan Mukherjee watched the incident in horror when the man got swept away into the sloshing waters as a sudden wave crashed into the guard wall of the Biswa Bangla Udyan beach in Old Digha. He was being warned not to climb the guard walls by lifeguards, or descend on the boulders as it was high tide and the sea was rough, as by an eyewitness before the incident took place.

The family had gone to Digha for a holiday that started from Sunday. The members included Chandan, his wife Nivedita, son Chirantan, daughter Chandrani and her husband. The entire family went to the beach on the early morning of Wednesday to witness the giant waves during high tide.

It was around 6 am when Mukherjee stepped over the guard wall and descended on the boulders in the excitement to click a selfie. He was then spotted by some lifeguards who were passing by and made him climb down. They also warned him to not do so again. But the tourist paid no heed and as soon the lifeguards walked away, the man again descended on the boulders. This time, a giant wave approached and knocked him down into the sea.

While Chandan's family screamed frantically for help, his 19-year old son rushed to call back the lifeguards. They immediately launched a search, but no trace of him was found.

"As the sea is usually rough during high tide, police and lifeguards regularly request tourists not to step over the guard wall. Despite warnings, some tourists do so. That is when such unfortunate accidents happen," said OC Digha, Baskinath Banerjee, to TOI.

As the waves receded, his body stained in blood was found two hours later surfaced 500 meters away near Sea Hawk Hotel. Sources said that the nature of injuries suggested the man had smashed his head against the boulders before he was dragged into the sea. His body was sent for autopsy to Digha hospital.