BBC- The quest for extreme selfies killed 259 people between 2011 and 2017, a 2018 global study has revealed.
Researchers at the US National Library of Medicine recommend that ‘no selfie zones’ should be introduced at dangerous spots to reduce deaths.
These would include the tops of mountains, tall buildings and lakes, where many of the deaths occurred.
Drowning, transport accidents and falling were found to be the most common cause of death.
But death by animals, electrocution, fire and firearms also appeared frequently in reports from around the world.
In July this year, 19-year-old Gavin Zimmerman fell to his death while taking selfies on a cliff in New South Wales, Australia.
Tomer Frankfurter died in California’s Yosemite National Park in September after falling 250 metres while trying to take a selfie.
News reports like this were analysed to compile the study.
They found that selfie-related deaths are most common in India, Russia, the United States and Pakistan and 72.5% of those reported are men.
Previous studies were compiled from Wikipedia pages and Twitter, which researchers say did not give accurate results.
The new study also showed that the number of deaths is on the rise.
There were only three reports of selfie-related deaths in 2011, but that number grew to 98 in 2016 and 93 in 2017.
However, the researchers claim that the actual number of selfie deaths could be much higher because they are never named as the cause of death.
“It is believed that selfie deaths are underreported and the true problem needs to be addressed,” it says.
“Certain road accidents while posing for selfies are reported as death due to Road Traffic Accident.
“Thus, the true magnitude of the problem is underestimated. It is therefore important to assess the true burden, causes, and reasons for selfie deaths so that appropriate interventions can be made.”
