Goodbye to your child’s cellphone? This deadly selfie challenge has caused nearly 500 deaths

With almost 5 billion smartphone users worldwide - and practically all of those devices having a built-in camera, that means a lot of selfies for those who like to make a visual document of their daily lives.

And some intrepid souls are willing to put their own safety at risk to get a unique image of themselves for their own record or to share.

It’s impossible to get an exact number of people who have died or been injured taking selfies but known deaths are listed at over 480.

The first reported selfie fatality

The first recorded case of a death while taking a selfie was in Utah’s Spanish Fork Canyon in October 2011. Essa Ricker and Kelsea Webster, both 15, and Kelsea’s younger sister, Savannah, aged 13 huddled together for a self portrait by a train track, seemingly oblivious to the a Union Pacific train hurtling towards them at 39 mph. The train struck the girls, killing two of them instantly while the third died later of her injuries.

Since then, there have been many more fatal accidents involving thrill-seekers looking for the ultimate dramatic picture - some of them suffering horrific deaths. People have died falling from great heights, hit by tidal waves, electrocuted by live electric wires, slipping into giant craters, trampled or attacked by wild animals... One of the strangest involved removing the pin of a live grenade - which the selfie taker miscalculated and ended up paying the price.

There are no limits to the lengths some will go to to get a stunning selfie with India having the dubious honor of being the country with the worst record for deaths while using a mobile phone, followed by Russia and the United States.

Most accidents happen at picturesque spots or locations made famous in popular films and TV series. An average of 12 people die every year trying to get a cool shot of the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

Rooftopping became a popular trend in Russia and China, with fearless climbers scaling the world’s tallest buildings to get a photo at the top. Regularly dicing with death will inevitably lead to accidents with climbers either losing balance, slips or pushed by an unexpected gust of wind.

26-year-old Chinese livestreamer Wu Yongjing fell 270 meters to his death from the top of the 62-storey Huayuan International Centre in Changsha while filming a live video in November 2017.

Most common activities that cause Selfie deaths

Falling from heights and drowning are the most common ways that daredevil selfie seeker have met their demise or bee seriously injured.

Despite widespread knowledge of the dangers and selfie campaigns, people are still doing it - it remains a global phenomenon. Those who prefer to stay on terra firma might argue that it’s Darwinism at work - all it takes in one lapse in concentration, one slight misjudgment...

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