Caught On Cam: Friends hug before being swept away in floods

Three friends were seen in a viral video hugging each other before being swept away to their deaths in a flash flood.

The three youths went on a walk along the Natisone River in Italy’s Udine and were stranded in the middle of a flash flood on May 31, a UK media outlet reported.

The viral video showed Patrizia Cormos, 20, her friend Bianca Doros, 23, and her boyfriend Cristian Molnar, 25, standing thigh deep in a river as they embraced each other tightly to stop themselves from being swept away.

Rescue officials said that the three friends were out on a walk near the river when the water level surged to dangerous levels amid heavy rains in the region leaving them stranded on a tiny island in the middle of the river.

According to one rescue official, the three young people, all believed to be dead, were just a few metres from the safety of the river bank.

“Only a stretch of a couple of meters of water separated them from the bank, the bottom at most up to their torso height. They didn’t want to wade, and retreated to the center of the river bed,” he added.

However, the group was in panic and could not escape the tiny island.

Rescue officials arrived at the scene after one of the friends made an emergency call to police.

They embraced each other tightly after a rescue official told them to stick together to brave the waves.

Meanwhile, others threw a rope in a desperate attempt to rescue the group, however, the group failed to reach for the rope or stand their ground and were swept away as the emergency services watched.

A day earlier, two out of the three bodies were discovered 1km from the spot while search is underway to find the third person.