02 February,2016 07:00 AM IST | | mid-day online correspondent
In light of 'selfie mania' claiming the lives of five engineering students in Telangana on Saturday, here are some instances when posing for self-portraits in scenic locations led to deaths
Fatal Selfie Fever! When desire to take that 'perfect' picture claimed lives
Selfie fever has gripped the world and there's is little that can be done to stop its spread. And while clicking selfies isn't normally a dangerous activity, the mania for unusual and unique angles has made it an action that can be fatal.
These are cautionary tales that are unlikely to have any effect on people looking for their 'perfect seflies'. The rapidly rising number of selfie fatalities is a cause of concern. Wednesday saw two tragedies taking place in India. While one saw two Class X students drowning in the river in search of that scenic picture, the other took place in our backyard of Khandala where a Mumbaikar lost his live.
In light of the tragic incidents in UP and Khandala, here are some instances when taking selfies led to loss of lives:
Five rescuers drown while 'selfie girl' lives
Selfie craze claimed five more lives, but even more sad was the fact that the lives lost were of five people who tried to rescue the person who fell into a reservoir while clicking a selfie on her mobile phone. Five engineering students, including two girls, drowned in a reservoir in Warangal district of Telangana on Saturday. The deceased, who were all third year engineering students in computer science at Warangal's Vagdevi Engineering College, jumped into the water to rescue Ramya Pratyusha, who accidentally fell in the lake while taking a selfie. While Pratyusha was saved, the others drowned. (READ MORE)
Mumbaikar falls in Khandala valley
The Khandala valley where the tragedy took place
Clicking selfie at a Khandala quarry turned fatal for a 36-year-old Mumbai man. The incident took place on Tuesday evening around 6 pm and his body was found in 200 feet quarry on Wednesday afternoon. The deceased have been identified as Santosh Gothad (36), a resident of Golibar Maidan, Santacruz in Mumbai. Santosh, along with his friend Pancham Ravidas didn't pay heed to official warnings and climbed the valley to take selfie with waterfall as backdrop. Santosh slipped and lost his balance and fell down in Kachal quarry of Khandala ghat. (READ MORE)
Two class X students drown in UP's Kosi river
In what was another case of 'selfie fever' claiming lives, a dozen Class X students were swept away while clicking selfies in the Kosi river in UP's Rampur district. According to media reports, the students who were tehre for a picnic, had waded deep into the river to click the 'perfect' selfie when they swept away by the sudden flow of the water that was released from the nearby Lalpur dam. The bodies of the two deceased boys, Saif Ali Khan and Faizi, were recovered four hours later.
Tourist dies while taking selfie at Machu Picchu ruins
A 51-year-old German tourist plummeted to his death while pretending to fly for a selfie atop Machu Picchu ruins in Peru. Oliver Park lost his balance while leaping to imitate flying and fell off the cliff.
Another selfie stunt proves fatal as two HSC students drown in Nashik dam
Ajinkya Gaikar and Saurabh Chulbhare
Two HSC students from Pune became the victims of selfie fever as they drowned at a dam in Nashik on February 15, 2016. The duo was part of a group of 10 childhood friends, who had gone on a picnic to enjoy themselves before their HSC exams, which begin in a few days. (READ MORE)
Seven drown in Ganga at Kanpur as selfie session goes awry
Seven youngsters were swept away in the Ganga river in Kanpur on Wednesday when one of them slipped into the river while taking a selfie and the others tried to save him, police said. Six bodies have been fished out of the river while a search was on to find the seventh body, while one boy survived the ordeal. (READ MORE)
Tragic! 15-year-old boy who shot himself while taking selfie dies
A 15-year-old boy -- Ramandeep Singh -- died at a Ludhiana hospital after sustaining a bullet injury to his head while taking a selfie with his father's revolver. The teenager had sustained a bullet injury while taking a selfie with his mobile phone with a .32 bore revolver pointed to his head. The gun went off accidentally. With the bullet lodged in his head, the critically injured teen was shifted to a hospital in Ludhiana. (READ MORE)
Murud tragedy: Students were taking selfies when a wave drowned them
Murud tragedy: Students were taking selfies when a wave drowned themLocals helping transport a survivor to the hospital at Murud near Alibag on Monday. PIC/SUDHIR NAZRE
Despite warnings from locals and faculty members about the high tide, students from Pune's Abeda Inamdar College ventured into the sea at Murud to click pictures on February 1, 2016. What was supposed to be a fun-filled daylong picnic at the Murud beach for the batch of 116 students, ended in tragedy after 14 of them drowned. (READ MORE)
Boy run over by train while trying to click selfie in Chennai
A 'selfie' moment ended in a tragedy for a 16-year-old student who was run over by a train while trying to click a picture of himself besides the train. Dinesh Kumar, a Std XI student, was walking along the railway track with a friend at suburban Vandalur on Sunday evening when the incident happened, the police said. He tried to click a picture of himself with the speeding suburban train behind him when it ran over him, killing the teenager on the spot. (READ MORE)
Selfie proves fatal for tourist at Jodhpur's Mehrangarh Fort
The craze for a selfie turned fatal for a 23-year-old tourist to the Mehrangarh Fort in Rajasthan's Jodhpur city on in January 2016. The man, identified as Nikhil, was trying to click a selfie on Tuesday evening when he fell down from the ramparts of the fort in Jodhpur, over 350 km from Jaipur. (READ MORE)
Girl slips at Bandra seaface while taking a 'selfie'; rescuer feared drowned
A college girl and a local resident drowned at Bandra Bandstand in January 2016. Like many others, the girl was taking selfies with her friends when they fell in the water. The rocky terrain at such spots is one of the reasons the fire brigade is unwilling to deploy lifeguards there. Pic/Onkar Devlekar
A college girl and a youth, who jumped into the waters to save her, drowned in the sea off Bandra Bandstand in Mumbai in January 2016, police said. Three college girls, all residents of Bainganwadi in suburban Govandi, aged between 18 and 19 years, had gone to the seaface to picnic. They were clicking selfies when one of them, Taranum, slipped into the sea, he said. Hearing their screams, a local youth, Rajesh Walunj, a local resident, jumped in and managed to fish out two of them. When he dived in again to locate Tarranum Shaikh, he disappeared. (READ MORE)
Mumbai: Selfie stunt on train roof kills 14-year-old boy
14-year-old Sahil Chandrakant Eshwarkar sustained 80 per cent burns when he accidentally touched an overhead cable while trying to click a selfie on a train parked at car shed near Nahur station in November 2015. The teenager from Kanjurmarg, succumbed to the burn injuries he sustained due to electrocution. According to the Kurla GRP officials, Sahil, a Std IX student of St Xavier's High School, Kanjurmarg, had gone to play football with his friends. The police officer said that Sahil and his friends were clicking selfies on the train when the boy got electrocuted after accidentally touching an overhead cable. He was thrown off the train. (READ MORE)
Mumbai: Boy tries to click selfie atop train, suffers 25,000V electric shock
A 16-year-old's desire to click selfies while committing acts of daredevilry led to him sustaining an electric shock from a 25,000-volt overhead wire in January 2015. 16-year-old Ganesh Kumkumawati sustained 90 per cent burns after he accidentally touched a 25,000-volt overhead wire at the Jogeshwari railway yard. The boy had gone to the Jogeshwari railway yard with his friends and was clicking photos of himself committing acts of daredevilry. (READ MORE)
Watch video: Japanese tourist falls to his death at Taj Mahal in Agra
A 66-year-old Japanese tourist died after allegedly falling down a flight of stairs at the historic Taj Mahal in Agra. The man was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him dead. (WATCH VIDEO)
Fatal selfie! Man shoots himself in the head while posing with loaded gun
A Mexican veterinary doctor's search for an impressive profile picture turned tragic when he shot himself in the head and died on the way to hospital in New York. Oscar Otero Aguilar, 21, had several pictures posted on his Facebook page posing in front of fast cars, sitting on expensive motorbikes, hugging beautiful women and even posing in a musical band. His craze turned tragic when Aguilar decided to take some pictures as he waved around a borrowed gun. The loaded gun went off in his hand, injuring him seriously. (READ MORE)
Pilot taking selfies led to fatal US air crash
According to US investigators, a pilot who died when he crashed his small aircraft was distracted because he was taking cell phone selfies in the cockpit, likely contributing to the fatal accident. The 29-year-old and a passenger were killed instantly when his Cessna 150K smashed into a field on May 31, 2014. A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) probe, using GoPro video taken in the cockpit, indicated that the pilot repeatedly took selfie photos with his phone leading up to the accident. (READ MORE)
Female tourist plunges to death in Spain while taking selfie
A 23-year-old Polish tourist plunged to her death while trying to take a selfie in Seville in Spain. Medical student Sylwia Rajchel slipped while taking a self-portrait on the ledge of the Puente de Triana bridge, media reports said. She fell 15 feet onto the concrete footings of the structure and succumbed to her injuries. (READ MORE)
Polish couple fall off cliff in Portugal and die while taking selfies
A Polish couple slipped and died after falling from a cliff edge in Portugal while they were busy taking a 'selfie'. The incident occurred at the cliff edge at Cabo de Roca, a popular tourist destination near Lisbon. The couple reportedly went past a barrier set up to keep people off the cliff edge. (READ MORE)
Youth electrocuted while taking selfie on locomotive in AP; critical
An 18-year-old engineering student was critically injured after he was allegedly electrocuted while taking a selfie on a stationary locomotive near railway station Rajahmundry in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. "The mishap occurred when K Sateesh, a student of Gitam University in Visakhapatnam, came in contact with a high-tension wire while he was taking a snap in his mobile phone after climbing on the parked engine in a shed while five of his friends stood near the loco," said RPF Circle Inspector C Sarath Babu. (READ MORE)
Police kill Pakistani teen taking selfies with toy gun
A teenager taking selfies with a toy gun was shot dead by police personnel who suspected him to be a robber in Pakistan's Punjab province. Farhan, 15, was taking selfies with the toy gun, along with a friend in Faisalabad city on Monday, when police mistook him to be a criminal and opened fire at him without any warning, reported Geo News. (READ MORE)
Woman shoots herself in head while taking selfie
A 21-year-old Russian woman has been critically wounded after accidentally shooting herself in the head with a pistol while posing for a selfie. The woman found a 9mm handgun left behind by a security guard at her office in Moscow and decided take a selfie while posing with the firearm. Holding the gun close to her head, the young woman accidentally pulled the gun's trigger and shot herself through the temple. (READ MORE)
