Next time you’re at the Taj Mahal, find yourself standing on a precarious cliff or see an approaching train, maybe just enjoy the moment rather than trying to capture the perfect selfie.
These are just three of the ways that 76 selfie-takers in India have lost their lives, according to a study published by US-based Carnegie Mellon University and Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi.
In the quest for the coolest selfie, more people have died in India in the past two years than the total number of selfie-related deaths in the rest of the world, according to the study titled “Me, Myself and My Killfie: Characterizing and Preventing Selfie Deaths”.
They blamed people’s desire for more “likes” and comments on social media for driving increasingly risky selfie-taking.
“(The) clicking dangerous selfies (has proved) to be so disastrous that during the year 2015 alone, there have been more deaths caused due to selfies than shark attacks all over the world,” the researchers said in a blog post.
Pakistan took second place in the global killer-selfie rankings with nine deaths, followed by the United States with eight and Russia on six. According to the study, China with its population of 1.37 billion only had four selfie-related deaths.
And while nobody here has risked their lives unnecessarily, it is true that the desire for more “likes” and comments makes you do the strangest things.
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Three college youngsters from Delhi attempting to take selfies in front of an oncoming train were unfortunately run over by the speeding train. An engineering student who had no other intention than taking a selfie and uploading it on social media was battered into pieces when the rock on which he stood cracked and gave way. After falling from 60 feet, the student suffered head injuries and died. All two engineering students wanted was a selfie with the Narmada canal in the background. They accidentally slipped and drowned. An 18-year-old girl was taking a selfie standing atop the Queen’s necklace of Mumbai. She tripped and fell all the way down in to the Arabian sea.
Off a treacherous cliff:
Into a canal:
Marine drive:
A group of 7 high-spirited men hopped onto a local boat to enjoy the serene atmosphere of Mangrul lake. To take a group selfie, they huddled to one side of the boat only to tilt the boat, fall over and drown
Three young girls who were strolling in the Bandstand area of Bandra weren’t aware of the fate that awaited them. While taking a selfie at the edge of the Rocky area, one of the girls fell and was swept away by the Arabian sea. Witnessing the incident, a man jumped to save her but he was also greeted by death.
QUOTES
One night my cousins and I were driving around when we came across a quiet eerie area. None of us, of course, knew where we were. Then one exclaimed that we were probably at a graveyard. Frightened and alarmed, I yelled. That's when one of my cousins clicked a selfie perfectly capturing the fright on my face. I, on the other hand, slammed the car into reverse and back straight into a into a ditch.
Supriya Banerjee, 20, Vasco
It was around 2 am and my friends and I randomly decided to visit a cemetery to soak in the haunting spirits that lurk around. Although we were scared to death, we decided to go ahead with the plan. Once there, however, I had goosebumps. The graveyard was creepy enough during the day but at night the creepiness was amplified. The entire situation was scary beyond words and I ended up tumbling down to the joy of my friends. We ended up clicking a selfie to remember the occasion before running for our lives.
Malsha Dias, 20, Margao
We were out and about town one day when my little cousin felt an urgent need to visit the washroom. I, of course, was forced to tag along. As soon as we walked in, however, the foul smell washed over us and we had difficulty breathing. Despite all this, my cousin insisted we had to click a selfie. I was taken aback as the smell was getting to me and I was sure there was no coming out alive from this near death experience. She, however, insisted and went about trying to get the perfect selfie. How she was so calm I do not know. I had my hand over my nose and mouth the entire time and ran out of the washroom as soon as she was done.
Finoshka Rodrigues, 19, Navelim
