Cuttack, July 5: Craze for clicking picturesque selfies in flooding water turned fatal for a squad of friends in Odisha's Cuttack on Sunday.

Three youths were swept away in the Mahanadi River while one went missing in the water, wreaking a mournful atmosphere by the river.

The incident took place at the Budhabandha village near the Naraj barrage in Cuttack city this afternoon.

The identity of the missing one is yet to be ascertained.

According to reports, as the River Mahanadi witnessed season’s first floodwater today, the bank of Mahanadi was crowded by locals and visitors to capture the scenic beauty of the swollen-river. Amid the crowd, a group of friends dared to enter into a bit deeper of the river to click some picturesque snaps. Meanwhile, three youths were accidentally swept away by the high current of water.

Promptly responding to it, locals dared to rescue two of them. However, one of them remained missing during the rescue operation.

On being aware of the mishap, Fire Services team rushed to the spot and initiated a rescue operation.

Search operation is yet underway to fish out the drowned one, sources said.