More Than 250 People Worldwide Have Died Taking Selfies, Says Study

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More Than 250 People Worldwide Have Died Taking Selfies, Says Study

On September 5, an 18-year-old hiker from Jerusalem died after he fell more than 800 feet (243 metre) off a cliff at Yosemite National Park, according to ABC News.

The man's mother said he had been trying to take a selfie at the edge of Nevada Fall, a popular waterfall in the park, when he fell, the Times of Israel reported.

Roughly two weeks later, a 32-year-old California woman met a similar fate while hiking at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan when she slipped and fell to her death after stopping at the edge of a 200-foot (61 metre) cliff to snap some selfies, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Mohit Jain, an orthopedic surgeon who was not involved in the recent study but has done research into selfie deaths, described the work of Banal and fellow researchers Chandan Garg and Abhijit Pakhare as "really necessary" to "make people aware that you can die while taking a selfie."

Jain published his own study last year about selfie-related mortality in the International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion.

"Sometimes eyes don't see if your mind doesn't know," Jain told The Post.

Jain's research found that 75 people had died attempting to take selfies from 2014 to mid-2016.

"It's like a man-made disaster," he said. "It's not a natural disaster."

One possible way to prevent selfie deaths would be "no selfie zones," Bansal said, banning them in certain areas such as bodies of water, mountain peaks and at the top of tall buildings.

Efforts to dissuade people from taking dangerous selfies have already been attempted in multiple countries, including India, Russia and Indonesia.

Three years ago, Russia launched a "Safe Selfie" campaign, which featured the slogan, "Even a million 'likes' on social media are not worth your life and well-being," the BBC reported.

An informational graphic with icons of "bad selfie ideas" - highlighting stick figures posing on power poles and while holding guns - was also distributed, Jain noted in his study.

In 2016, Mumbai declared 16 "no selfie zones" across the city following a slew of selfie-related deaths, The Guardian reported. Earlier this year, a national park in Indonesia announced it would be working to create a safe spot for photos after a hiker died taking a selfie, according to the Jakarta Post.