The rise of smartphones and social media has paved the way for selfies to become a popular pastime for young people around the world. Sometimes people hunting for the perfect self-portrait get carried away though and put themselves and sometimes others in harm’s way.
Tragic as it is, researchers from the United States and India have found that taking selfies in dangerous situations cost at least 127 lives since March 2014.
The researchers scoured the web for news articles reporting selfie-related deaths in an effort to raise awareness and help prevent further injuries or deaths as a consequence of reckless selfie-taking. Ridiculous as it may sound, there are many ways to harm yourself while taking a selfie.
The cases found by the researchers include several people falling from great heights, drowning or accidently shooting themselves while taking a selfie with a gun.
Photographers appear to be particularly careless in India where the researchers found the most reports of selfie-related accidents by far.