5 drown in Indonesian selfie incident after dock buckles
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The five who died were members of a family of 14 who had gathered on a wooden structure (above) at Kandi Lake in West Sumatra to take a group photo. Their combined weight brought it down. Nine tourists had drowned in a similar fatal accident in the country earlier this month.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
PADANG (Indonesia) • Five members of an Indonesian family drowned when a dock where they were taking a selfie collapsed, police said yesterday, just weeks after a similar fatal accident.
The family of 14 were at picturesque Kandi Lake in West Sumatra when they gathered on the wooden structure to take a group photo, but their combined weight brought it down, police said.
A 17-year-old was among the five who drowned while the rest of the family survived Wednesday's accident.
"They were taking a selfie on the dock when the incident happened," said local police chief Junaidi Nur.
He added that the incident took place after closing hours so there were no security officers at the site.
A rescue effort later retrieved the bodies and an investigation was being carried out, Mr Nur said.
This month, nine tourists drowned after their overloaded boat capsized when they were taking a selfie in a reservoir on Java island.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE