An international student from India plunged 40 meters to his death at a popular tourist attraction in Western Australia.
The final moments of 20-year-old Ankit were captured on camera while attempting a jump at The Gap in Albany, 415 KM from Perth, on Thursday.
“His friends jumped over smaller gaps. Ankit thought he would be able to jump over the gap that’s wider. While he attempted the jump, he slipped and fell off the cliff,” a friend Sanjeev Khokhar told SBS Punjabi.
A major search and rescue operation was launched, involving search helicopters and local SES crews, after the authorities were alerted to his fall off the rocks.
Ankit attempting a jump before he slipped and fell off the cliff into the ocean. Source: Supplied
The 20-year-old was in Australia for just a couple of months when he, along with a group of friends who shared the house with him, travelled to Albany.
"We were studying in the same college. He was a very good man."
"I would like to say just it was an accident, it can happen to anyone, so please be aware."
The shocked members of Perth's Indian community say the incident is a warning to tourists and international students to be careful and head warning signs at tourist attractions.
Source: Supplied
“Though his friends say he was careful and it was just an accident, young people should never take such chances. His family had to endure a great many hardships to send him to study here. Now they are having to deal with this tragedy,” Vijay Kumar, a representative of Perth’s Ror community said.
Originally from Kurukshetra in the north Indian state of Haryana, Ankit was enrolled at Kingdom College in a certificate course.
The Indian community in Western Australia is raising funds to help his family in India.
“He came from a poor farming family who took a bank loan to pay for Ankit’s studies in Australia. It’s a terrible tragedy but at the same time, it’s very heartening to see the community’s support at this hour,” Surya Ambati of the Indian Society of Western Australia told SBS Punjabi.
His body is expected to be brought to Perth on Tuesday. It will then be repatriated to his village in India by the weekend.
Indian Consul General in Perth, Amit Kumar Mishra said the consulate was in touch with Ankit's family in India.
"We are also in touch with the Indian community in Perth and an uncle of Ankit who is here and we will extend the required help," Mr Mishra told SBS Punjabi.
The Indian consulate has previously helped with the expenses of repatriation of the dead body of an Indian migrant from the consulate's Indian Community Welfare Fund.
"We have helped pay up to 100 per cent of the expenses. Our consideration is... we help people who extremely needy. The community has raised a substantial amount of money in this case."
An online fundraiser started to help Ankit’s family has so far collected nearly 30,000.
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