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Four members of Indian family drown while trying to take selfie

Four family members have died after attempting a selfie in a fast-moving river in southern India.

selfie
File photo Source: AAP

A newlywed woman and three family members were swept away and drowned while trying to take a selfie in a fast-flowing river in southern India.

The group of six were holding hands and standing in waist-deep water when one woman stepped into a sudden drop in the riverbed and slipped, pulling the others with her, a local police officer told AFP.

The woman's husband managed to save one woman but the rest of the group drowned, including the man's wife and a 14-year-old boy, the Press Trust of India reported.

Experts warn that youngsters obsessed with social media are going to extreme lengths to post selfies seen as daring and risky.

In May three teens taking photos on a railway track in Haryana state jumped onto a second track when they saw an approaching train, not realising another train was coming, and were crushed to death.

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India has the highest number of selfie deaths, followed by Russia, the United States and Pakistan.
India has the highest number of selfie deaths, followed by Russia, the United States and Pakistan. Source: ICHPL Imaginechina

In 2017 three students taking selfies on a railway bridge in the southern state of Karnataka were killed after being hit by an express train.

The same year a man died in Odisha after an elephant wrapped its trunk around him and crushed him to death as he tried to take a selfie with the animal.

Indian couple Vishnu Viswanath, 29, and Meenakshi Moorthy, 30, fell to their deaths while taking a selfie in the Yosemite National Park last year.

Vishnu Viswanath, 29, and Meenakshi Moorthy, 30 fell to their deaths while taking a selfie at the Yosemite national park in California.
Vishnu Viswanath, 29, and Meenakshi Moorthy, 30 fell to their deaths while taking a selfie at the Yosemite national park in California. Source: Facebook/Vishnu Viswanath

A study last year by researchers from the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences said 259 people across the world had died while taking selfies between 2011 and 2017.

The highest number of selfie deaths was reported in India followed by Russia, the United States and Pakistan, it said.


2 min read

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Updated

Source: AFP, SBS



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