Overview
- The 26-year-old model, Divyanshu Joshi, drowned after entering water at the Pettamala quarry while scouting a location for a clothing-brand shoot and was pulled from about 30 feet of water before being declared brought dead at Perumbavoor hospital.
- Rescue teams and local residents responded after Joshi's companion, who was filming him, raised the alarm and emergency services recovered his body from a deep section of the unused quarry.
- Pettamala panchayat leaders say the quarry has been inactive for over 20 years, has a history of drownings, bore warning signs, and that no permission had been granted for any shoot at the site.
- Kartik Research issued a statement mourning Joshi and saying he was in Kerala for a seasonal photo shoot and that swimming was not part of the production, while public scrutiny has focused on on-set safety and permits.
- Ernakulam police have an ongoing inquiry and preliminary findings point to aerial videos on social media as a possible factor in the location choice, raising questions about how user-generated content can popularize hazardous sites.