Young tourists above one of Yosemite National Park’s beautiful and perilous waterfalls were trying to pose for a picture. Instead they burned a horrifying image into the memories of everyone who saw.

Manteca resident Ramina Badal, 21, crossed a metal barricade above the 317-foot Vernal Fall on Tuesday along with  a male hiker form a Ceres church group. They made  their way over slick granite to a rock in the middle of the swift Merced River. Badal slipped. The man reached for her and fell in. Another man in their group of about 10 tried to help but fell into the water as well. Other hikers, including several children in their group, could only watch as the rushing water swept all three students over the edge.

The couple who were on the rock hugged each other tightly as they disappeared.

The three students are presumed dead; rescuers continued searching for their bodies Wednesday. The Yosemite Search and Rescue unit identified them as Hormiz David, 22, of Modesto; Ninos Yacoub, 27, of Turlock;  and Badal..

David was studying music production at Modesto Junior College, Yacoub was studying chemistry at California State University, Stanislaus, and Badal attended the University of San Francisco and had hoped to become a doctor.

The tragedy brings to six the number of people killed in water accidents in Yosemite this year. Two hikers drowned in the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir on June 29, and a hiker slipped and fell into the Merced River on the Mist Trail on May 13.