Two Kerala tourists drown after slipping into frozen Sela Lake in Arunachal Pradesh
Itanagar (PTI): Two tourists from Kerala drowned in the Sela Lake in Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang district on Friday, police said.
The body of one of them was recovered, while a search was underway to trace the other, they said.
"The deceased was identified as Dinu (26), while Mahadev (24) is still missing. They were part of a seven-member tourist group that had arrived in Tawang via Guwahati," Superintendent of Police (SP) DW Thongon said.
"The incident happened in the afternoon when one member of the group slipped into the frozen lake and began to drown. Dinu and Mahadev entered the lake in an attempt to rescue him. While the third tourist managed to come out safely, the two were swept under the icy water," he added.
The SP said the administration received information about the incident around 3 pm, following which a joint rescue operation was launched involving the district police, central forces and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF).
"Despite difficult weather and low visibility, the body of one tourist was recovered. The search for the missing person had to be halted due to darkness and harsh conditions," he said, adding that the operation will resume on Saturday morning.
The recovered body has been kept at Jang Community Health Centre, where a post-mortem examination will be conducted on Saturday.
Thongon said warning signboards have been put up at Sela Lake and other tourist spots, clearly advising visitors not to walk on frozen lakes.
The district administration had issued an advisory in December, cautioning tourists that frozen water bodies are unsafe as the ice may be unstable and unable to support human weight, he said.
Situated at an altitude of over 13,000 feet, Sela Lake is a popular tourist destination but poses significant risks during winter due to extreme cold and fragile ice cover.
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US VP JD Vance says Lebanon not part of ceasefire, calls it ‘misunderstanding’
Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.
His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.
Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.
He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.
