India tops the chart with most selfie-related deaths

A new study that has analysed the deaths caused by selfies in the world found that India has had far more selfie-related deaths than any other country in the world in the last two years. The study says that India had the whopping number of selfie-related deaths with 76 deaths out of total 127 in the world. In a blog detailing the study, it said Pakistan had nine deaths, the United States eight and Russia six over the past two years.

The analysis titled “Me, Myself and My Killfie Characterising and Preventing Selfie Deaths”, found that of 127 reported selfie deaths from March 2014 to September 2016, “a whopping 76 deaths occurred in India alone!” That’s the findings from a new study by scholars from Carnegie Mellon University and Indraprastha Institute of Information Delhi.

In 2015 alone, Indians taking selfies died while posing in front of an oncoming train, in a boat that tipped over at a picnic, on a cliff that gave way and crumbled into a 60-foot ravine and on the slippery edge of a scenic river canal. Also, a Japanese tourist trying to take a selfie fell down steps at the Taj Mahal, suffering fatal head injuries.

Researchers also analysed the thousands of selfies posted on social media websites and found that men were far more likely than women to take dangerous selfies. It found 13 percent were taken in what could be dangerous circumstances, and the majority of victims were under the age of 24.