Many people, mostly millennials, post selfies on their social media account while doing chores, studying, partying, driving or even doing nothing. Recently, a study was conducted figuring out 127 people from all over the world who died taking selfies AKA "Killfies"
Scholars from different universities started a research study defining the "Killfies" as selfie-related casualties - death of a person or group of people caused by taking selfies. They started conducting the study between March 2014 and September 2016.
There were 76 selfie-related deaths uncovered. Many of which were from India. Today, India has established "no-selfie zones" to prevent people from taking selfies in high-risk or busy areas.
Pakistan came in second, followed by the US, Russia, China, Philippines, and lastly Spain. Some countries, including Portugal, Peru, Indonesia, Turkey, Romania, Mexico, Australia, South Africa Italy, Chile, Nepal, and Serbia, also recorded selfie-related deaths.
According to the research, the high percentage of deaths suggests that many are prone to dangerous selfie taking. Almost three-quarters were 29 years or younger. Researchers shared that the selfie trend originated from the millennials.
Death-by-selfie app created to stop people risking their lives for ‘killfies' https://t.co/PLmx5UgFUT pic.twitter.com/jUvRxU5IGs
— MirrorTech (@MirrorTech) November 22, 2016
Most of the recorded deaths were results from activities involving height and water. It is either someone falls from an elevated area, building or mountain or some water-related situation.
In some cases, the cause of deaths were selfies taken on trains and other vehicles. There were 127 deaths reported and 85 were high-risk incidents.
If you were wondering why the study took so long and was dated back to March 2014, it's because the earliest selfie-related death happened during that time. In 2014, 15 selfie-related deaths happened, 39 in 2015 and 73 in 2016 [as of this writing].
We should all be watchful if we take our selfies, make sure that you're not risking somebody else's lives. Taking a dangerous selfie not only puts you at risk but also the people around you.
