New Delhi: A 23-year-old tourist from Telangana and her guide were killed after they lost their balance while paragliding and fell into a river in North Sikkim on Friday, police said.

According to a report by the PTI news agency, Esha Reddy, a resident of Khammam in Telangana, had been to Lachung on a trip, police said.

Police said Reddy, accompanied by her guide Sandeep Gurung, a resident of Thami Dara in Gangtok, left Lachung View Point around 9:30 a.m. on Friday.

A 23-year-old tourist from Telangana and her guide were killed in North Sikkim after losing their balance while paragliding and falling into the river: Police

– Tap Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 1, 2022

However, both lost their balance due to strong winds and fell into the Lachung River, after which they were swept away by its strong currents.

Later, following a search operation, which included police personnel, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the military, their bodies were found in the evening, officials said.

Initially, police said staff were having difficulty recovering the bodies due to strong river currents, but later that evening the ITBP recovered the two bodies from the Lachung River in North Sikkim.

This is not the first paragliding accident in recent times. Earlier, in November last year, a couple from Gujarat had narrowly escaped off Nagao beach in Diu after their parachute cord snapped during a parasailing trip. Both had the life jackets on and were rescued by lifeguards almost immediately.

A video of the incident has gone viral on social media.