The most common locations and
causes of selfie-related accidents
Despite the risks, some people will go to some very extreme lengths to get the perfect selfie for social media.
While scaling a skyscraper, standing right by the edge of a cliff, or posing next to a wild animal might all rack up the likes, these types of daredevil selfies can have deadly consequences.
We’ve scoured news articles from the last decade and found over 300 instances of people being injured or tragically killed in search of the perfect snap, with the research highlighting the kinds of dangerous and life-threatening situations that people have put themselves in when trying to take selfies.
While the majority of countries thankfully only experienced one or two reported selfie accidents in the last ten years, there were a handful of countries which stood out as having had a high number of incidents.
176 deaths/injuries
It's not quite clear, India had a vastly higher number of selfie-related incidents than any other country, with 176 deaths and injuries being reported in the last ten years, which is more than all other countries combined. It’s quite clear for the reasons behind this, but India does have a high proportion of people under 30 and another possible factor which has been suggested is that visual culture is much stronger in India, meaning more people are more likely to take selfies.
26 deaths/injuries
26 accidents took place in the USA, with a number of different causes. While some were involved in transport-related accidents, a shocking number actually resulted from tragic accidents involving firearms. One of the incidents that thankfully didn’t result in the person involved losing their life saw a San Diego man suffer a bite from a rattlesnake after trying to snap a selfie with it, before having to pay $153,000 to cover his treatment.
19 deaths/injuries
19 selfie accidents were reported in Russia, with a surprisingly high number of these coming about due to electrocution, primarily from people trying to take selfies in high-risk places such as railways.
Unfortunately, there are a number of different ways that people have either been injured or lost their lives while taking a selfie, some of which are more unusual than others.
88 deaths/injuries
The most common way people have lost their lives while taking a selfie is through drowning, with 88 instances. It’s always important to be careful when around water, whether that’s the open ocean, or even just a pond or river.
86 deaths/injuries
A lot of the incidents on our list came about from people trying to get the most impressive shots possible, whether that’s through stunning natural beauty or performing daredevil stunts, but either way, letting your guard down when at great heights is extremely dangerous.
62 deaths/injuries
There’s a reason that it’s illegal to use your phone while driving, but many of the transport-related accidents on our list actually relate to people being hit by trains, or even through causing aeroplane or helicopter crashes.
While some of the locations where people have had accidents taking selfies are quite clearly dangerous, others are more unusual, and show how important it is to always be aware of your surroundings.
62 deaths/injuries
Railway lines are fairly obviously dangerous places where you shouldn’t be trespassing, which is why it’s so shocking to see just how many people have either died or been injured while taking selfies on them, whether that’s being hit by a train or electrocuted by the power lines.
38 deaths/injuries
A selfie right on the edge of a dramatic cliff face with spectacular views in the background understandably makes for a great picture, but when there are no safety barriers in place, the dangers are clear to see. Unfortunately, 38 people were reported as either dying or being injured by falling off a cliff while taking a selfie.
24 deaths/injuries
Rivers can be deceptively dangerous and unfortunately, have led to 24 reported selfie-related deaths and injuries in the last decade or so, including one particularly tragic incident in India where a group of seven died trying to save their friend who had been taking a selfie of the group.
The most common locations and causes of selfie-related accidents ranked
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All accidents were sourced from Wikipedia’s list of selfie-related injuries and deaths, which lists selfie-related injuries and deaths since 2011, as reported in various online news articles.
Note that while these are all of the incidents that we could find reports for, it’s likely that many selfie-related accidents have gone unreported, so the actual numbers could, in fact, be much higher.
