Selfie Claims Life Of ‘Kind And Wonderful’ Student

A 21-year-old student was killed in New Zealand on Monday while trying to take a selfie.

Rachel Louise De Jong and a group of three friends went to the Aratiatia Dam this week when the dam’s floodgates opened before she was able to get into a safe zone.

The five-minute warning sirens at the Waikato River sounded off, and the group of three were able to make it safely to a larger rock. However, the “kind and wonderful” Auckland student was not as fortunate.

On Monday night, the police located the body of the Rachel De Jong from a rockpool, according to New York Post.

Two German tourists named Katrin Taylor and Kevin Kiau were standing at a viewing platform on the Aratiatia Dam when the horrific incident happened.

At the time the alarm sounded, Taylor and Kiau noticed four people holding on to a submerge rock in the middle of the rushing rapids.

“They were holding selfie sticks,” Taylor said. “We could see the water was rising further and that they were in danger of getting washed away.”

Two of the girls were rescued by a man who pulled them to a nearby rock.

When the water levels became too high, the raging current swept De Jong away.

“We saw the first girl made it,” Taylor said. “The guy pulled her in. The second girl jumped and made it safe as well. The third girl, she jumped but the water was washing her away so the guy grabbed her.”

Rachel’s brother, Daniel, penned a heartfelt tribute to his sister. He wrote: “Yesterday I lost one of the most important people in my life, my wonderful sister. Not only was she an inspiration to us all, she was my best friend, and the most perfect sister I could ever have asked for.”

Chief executive Fraser Whineray gave this statement: “Our sincere thoughts go out to the family and friends of the person who has passed and to those who are recovering at the local hospital and who will be traumatized.”

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Rachel Louise De Jong.

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[H/T New York Post]