3 Dec 2016

Death by selfie

From This Way Up, 12:55 pm on 3 December 2016
Angela Nikolau on Tsing Ma bridge Hong Kong (Instagram)

Angela Nikolau on Tsing Ma bridge Hong Kong (Instagram) Photo: Instagram

Selfies can kill.

Since March 2014, more than 130 people have lost their lives around the world taking photos of themselves. And a team of researchers working in the US and India wants to find out why, so it can try to reduce the risks in the future.

Already Russia has launched a 'safe selfie' campaign after people died after taking photos with weapons and even live hand grenades. And Mumbai in India has banned people from taking selfies at 16 places around the city. 

So where are the most dangerous locations, and could an app save lives in the future?

Ponnurangam Kumaraguru of IIITD in Delhi is on a team of researchers that did the selfie study. The team is developing an app to warn people of the dangers when they try to snap selfies in unsafe spots.