More people are dying for the perfect selfie.
A new study – titled, “Me, Myself and My Killfie:
Characterizing and Preventing Selfie Deaths” – found that 127 people have died
in a 29-month span through last September while trying to get photos of
themselves at dangerous or exotic locations. The overwhelming majority of the deaths
compiled by researchers occurred in India, where 76 people died. In the United
States, there were eight selfie-related deaths.
The most common factor behind the so-called “selfie
deaths” – defined as a death of an individual or group that could have been
avoided had the individual(s) not been taking a selfie – was a fall from an
elevated location like buildings or mountains. Deaths involving both elevation
and water were next, followed by fatalities involving trains, according to
researchers from Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania and two colleges in
India.
“We found that taking selfies on train tracks is a
trend,” the study reads. “This trend caters to the belief that posting on or
next to train tracks with their best friend is regarded as romantic and a sign
of never-ending friendship
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