Researcher: ‘Selfie deaths have become a major public health problem’

More than 250 people died in the last six years while taking selfies, with many deaths coming when the individual tried to capture their visage near water or transportation, according to a study published earlier this year.

Researchers with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences found that 259 people died between October 2011 and November 2017 as a result of hazards that arose while they were taking selfies. The highest total of selfie-related deaths took place in India in that timespan, followed by Russia and the U.S., according to the study.

“The selfie deaths have become a major public health problem,” Agam Bansal, the study’s lead author, told The Washington Post.

{mosads}Most of the deaths resulted from something that was happening around the person taking the selfie, the study reported. For example, many people drowned while trying to take selfies in the water, or died when trying to take a selfie in front of a train.

The average age of the deceased person was roughly 23 years old, and nearly three quarters of the selfie victims were men, according to the study.

The findings were published in the July-August edition of the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, and first reported in a Washington Post article on Wednesday.