This is a list of serious injuries and deaths in which one or more subjects of a selfie were killed or injured before, during, or after taking a photo of themselves, with the accident at least in part attributed to taking the photo.
Overview The United States Department of Transportation estimated that in 2014, the so-called "year of the selfie", 33,000 people were injured while driving and using a cell-phone in some fashion, which can include talking, listening, and "manual button/control actuation". A 2015 survey by Erie Insurance Group found that 4% of all drivers admitted to taking selfies while driving.
The Washington Post reported in January 2016 that "about half" of at least 27 "selfie related" deaths in 2015 had occurred in India. There is no official data on the number of people who died taking selfies in India, but reports show from 2014 to August 2016 that there have been at least 54 deaths in India while taking selfies. The Indian Ministry of Tourism asked states to identify and barricade "selfie danger" areas, its first national attempt to deal with the selfie deaths. Mumbai Police identified at least 16 danger zones after a man drowned attempting to save a selfie-taker. No-selfie zones were also established in certain areas of the Kumbh Mela because organizers feared that bottlenecks caused by selfie-takers could spark stampedes.
A 2018 study of news reports showed that there were 259 selfie deaths in 137 incidents reported globally between October 2011 and November 2017, with the highest occurrences in India, followed by Russia, United States, and Pakistan. The mean age was 23 years old, with male deaths outnumbering female about three to one.
From January 2008 to July 2021 it was estimated that there were 379 people who died in selfie related accidents.
Injuries and deaths
Date Country Deaths Injuries Type Description
30 Transport Three teenagers (two sisters, 15 and 13, and a friend, aged 15) were killed by a Union Pacific train while posing for a selfie that was found on their phone near Salt Lake City. Shortly before, they posted the message "Standing right by a train ahaha this is awsome!!!!" to Facebook.
11 Electrocution A 21-year-old man was electrocuted and another person hospitalized in a serious condition after climbing on top of a train to take a selfie with friends and touching a live electric wire. 10TransportTwo people were walking near train tracks when a train approached them; one of the people on the tracks moved away, and the second person, a 15-year-old, was attempting to take a selfie when she was struck by the train and was killed.
10 Transport A 32-year-old woman from North Carolina died after her vehicle crossed the center median on Interstate 85 in the Greensboro–Winston-Salem area, upon which it collided with a recycling truck, left the road, hit a tree, and burst into flames – moments after posting selfies online when she heard Pharrell Williams's song "Happy" playing on radio station WKZL inside her car. The truck driver was reportedly unharmed after the fatal crash.
10 Other Two 16-year-old girls posed for naked selfies in private. One girl later posted the revealing photos online. The other girl was so enraged she stabbed her friend to death in an ambush attack.
10 Fall A 17-year-old girl fell to her death after being hit by 1,500 volts when attempting to grab live wires on a railway bridge.
10 Transport A 15-year-old boy was killed by a train while posing for a selfie on the tracks.
20TransportA 29-year-old amateur pilot allegedly took selfies using a GoPro camera before his plane crashed in a grassy field in Colorado, killing himself and the passenger on board.
10 Fall A 16-year-old girl died in Taranto after plunging onto rocks while she was trying to take a selfie on the seafront.
10 Fall A 14-year-old high school student fell to her death after losing her balance while taking a selfie with a friend near a staircase landing of their school in Pasig. She sustained a sharp blow to the head from the fall and broke a rib, which pierced a kidney. April 201401TransportA 22-year-old Canadian tourist standing too close to railway tracks while recording a selfie video was accidentally kicked in the head by a conductor riding on the front of a passing train. The recording of the incident quickly became a viral video.
10 Transport A 12-year-old was with a second person taking selfies near a railway track. A train arrived and they went back down onto the tracks to retrieve their bags. As they were waiting for the train to leave, a second train approached that they did not hear. The second person jumped away before the train collided with them, but the 12-year-old was hit by the train and killed.
01 Firearm A 15-year-old boy was critically wounded after accidentally shooting himself while taking a selfie in which his other hand was holding a gun to his chin.
10 Firearm A 21-year-old man was drinking with friends and took a selfie to post on Facebook. He posed with a gun pointed at his face. The man accidentally shot himself and was declared dead at the scene.
20 Fall A Polish couple fell to their death off a cliff after crossing a safety barrier to take a selfie with their two children, who survived.
10 Electrocution In Kerala, a 14-year-old boy was electrocuted while attempting to take a selfie on top of a stationary train.
10 Transport A 36-year-old man from Niagara, North Dakota, struck and killed a 54-year-old woman while driving. She was riding a bicycle and he was distracted as he took a selfie, striking her from behind with his vehicle.
10 Drowned An 18-year-old woman was posing for a group selfie on a beach with friends when she was caught by a strong wave and drowned.
10 Fall A 23-year-old Polish student fell to her death while trying to take a selfie on the ledge of the Triana Bridge in Seville.
10 Fall A 21-year-old woman died after falling from Northcliff Hill, Johannesburg, as a male companion was setting up a tripod for a selfie.
20 Other Two young men died in the Ural Mountains after they pulled the pin from a live hand grenade to take a selfie. The phone with the picture remained as evidence of the incident.
30 Transport Three students aged 20 to 22 died trying to take a "daredevil selfie" close to an oncoming train on railway tracks in Mathura.
10 Transport A 24-year-old Israeli man traveling on a train from Mumbai to Goa was attempting to take a selfie and fell out of the moving train, resulting in his death.
10 Transport A man in Kalama, Washington, stepped out onto a railroad track to take a selfie with himself and a woman with a passing Amtrak train in the background. The man misjudged which track the oncoming train was on, and was struck and killed at the scene.
70 Drowned Seven people drowned while taking selfies on Mangrul Lake near Kuhi, about 20 km from Nagpur. Their boat had tipped over as they were standing up to pose.
10 Fall A 60-year-old German tourist skiing in the Trentino-Alto Adige region was reported missing when he failed to pick up his children from ski school. Subsequent investigation found that while skiing alone, he took off his skis and went off-trail to take a selfie next to a cliff, where he slipped and plunged approximately to his death.
10 Transport A 22-year-old man was trying to recreate a scene from his favorite movie Barking at the Stars by running in front of a train, beating it and being hailed a hero. As he ran in front of the train, he tried to take a selfie to document the scene. He was killed instantly when the express train hit him at full speed in the village of Laćarak near the town of Sremska Mitrovica.
11 Electrocution An 18-year-old woman died when she attempted to take the "ultimate selfie", posing with a friend on top of a train in Iași when her leg touched a live wire above which electrocuted her with 27,000 volts. Her 17-year-old companion was hospitalised.
10 Electrocution A teenage boy climbed on a railway bridge in Ryazan Oblast to take a selfie and died when he came in contact with live wires.
01 Firearm A 21-year-old woman found a 9-millimeter rubber-bullet pistol left by a security guard at her office, used it for taking a selfie, and accidentally shot herself in the head, sustaining severe injuries.
10 Fall A 21-year-old man fell into the crater of Mount Merapi while attempting to take a selfie and died.
10 Fall A Singaporean tourist died after falling into the sea while taking a selfie on a cliff in Nusa Lembongan, off the coast of Bali.
10 Firearm, shot by police A 15-year-old boy was taking selfies with a toy gun when police opened fire on him, killing him.
02 Electrocution Two teenage girls received electric shocks, but survived, at a railroad yard in Taganrog. They tried to climb on the tank car of an old freight train that was standing at the platform in order to take a selfie, but did not realize it was still in use and on a live track.
10 Fall A 54-year-old Slovak tourist visiting Plitvice Lakes National Park fell to her death from a rock while taking a selfie.
10ElectrocutionA walker in the Brecon Beacons was struck by lightning when the selfie stick he was using to capture a photograph acted like a lightning rod, causing death by electrocution.
10 Fall A 21-year-old university graduate died after falling from a bridge while she was trying to take a selfie next to the Moscow International Business Center.
01 Animal A man from San Diego was hospitalised for five days following an attempt to take a selfie with a rattlesnake which then bit him.
01 Animal A woman in Yellowstone National Park was gored by an American bison while taking a selfie. She was treated for injuries.
10 Transport A woman vacationing in Pagudpud was hit by a motorcycle while taking a selfie by the side of a scenic road. She was taken to hospital and died.
10 Animal A man was gored to death in the annual bull-running festival in Villaseca de la Sagra while trying to take a selfie with a bull.
10 Fall A man was discovered with his phone and selfie stick at the bottom of a 100-foot cliff at Long Men waterfall in Zhejiang. Based on photographic evidence on his phone, police speculated that he lost his footing while taking a selfie and fell to his death. It was not known when he died or how long his body had been there.
10Electrocution A 14-year-old girl died after being electrocuted with a live wire when trying to take a selfie on a train.
10 Firearm A 19-year-old from Houston died after trying to take an Instagram selfie while holding a loaded gun to his head. He accidentally fired the gun and shot himself in the throat.
10 Fall A Japanese tourist fell off a staircase to his death while taking a selfie at the Taj Mahal.
10 Fall 17-year-old student Andrey Retrovsky from Vologda died attempting to take a selfie while hanging from a rope from a nine-story building. The rope snapped. Retrovsky was known for taking 'extreme' selfies and posting them to his Instagram account drewsssik.
10 Fall An engineering student died while taking selfies with friends at Kolli Hills, Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, when the rock on which he was standing cracked and gave way, plunging him and causing his death from head injuries.
01 Electrocution A 14-year-old from Barcelona was hospitalised with electric shock after trying to take a selfie on the roof of a train car.
10 Other A 68-year-old Belgian woman was visiting the El Tatio geyser field located within the Andes Mountains of Norte Grande. While attempting to take a selfie in front of an active geyser she stepped backwards and fell into the scalding hot water. Her husband pulled her out, but she died in hospital days later from burns over 85 percent of her body.
20 Drowned Two engineering students of Wadhwan, Gujarat, drowned in the Narmada Canal after slipping down the bank while taking selfies.