An Indian couple who died after falling from a Yosemite National Park overlook last week were reportedly trying to take a selfie when they lost their balance.
The pair, identified as 29-year-old Vishnu Viswanath and 30-year-old Meenakshi Moorthy, fell about 800 feet from the popular attraction located in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, according to the National Park Service.
Their bodies were recovered by park rangers below Taft Point on Thursday. The overlook, which has a granite ledge that doesn’t have a railing, apparently lets visitors walk on its edge.
According to Viswanath’s brother, Jishnu Viswanath, Moorthy dreamt of becoming a full-time travel blogger, reports the Mercury News.
As the thrill-seeking “Travel Creatives,” the pair showcased images of their travels in their Instagram account called “holidaysandhappilyeverafters.” The pair has visited the beaches of the Maldives and Italy’s Florence Cathedral, among many other exciting destinations. The couple celebrated their anniversaries in style, with a hot-air balloon ride in 2016 and skydiving last year.
“Hurling myself out of a perfectly functioning airplane was a dream forever for this pink-haired daredevil,” Moorthy wrote in a post last year.
She reportedly had set up a tripod near the ledge on Tuesday evening. The next day, some park visitors found the camera and immediately notified the rangers.
Jishnu Viswanath said that the rescuers “used high-powered binoculars to find them and used helicopters to airlift the bodies.”
He added that the pair will be buried in the U.S. as the bodies were no longer fit to be flown back to India.
Meanwhile, Yosemite park officials have stated that the investigation, which could take several days to complete, is currently ongoing.
Featured image via Instagram/holidaysandhappilyeverafters
