DUMB TOURISTS OF THE WEEK: DEATH BY SELFIE
by Hazed
Selfies may be annoying, but who knew they were deadly? Well, idiotic tourists who put themselves into ridiculously dangerous situations in search of that perfect photo opportunity are being killed.
Last week, a German tourist who was visiting the Machu Picchu ruins in Peru fell to his death after posing for a jumping photo. He slipped from a ledge and fell 130 feet.
The day before, a South Korean tourist died in the same country when he slipped off the Gocta waterfall and fell 1,600 feet while taking a selfie.
Last year, a Japanese tourist who was taking a photo of himself at the Taj Mahal in India fell down some stairs and died.
So if selfies can be dangerous, if you add guns into the mix things get ever more deadly. Earlier this year, an American tried to take a selfie while holding what he thought was an unloaded gun. Turned out it wasn’t, and he shot himself in the face. And he wasn’t the first to die in a gun selfie, either.
The Washington Post has reported that last year at least 27 people around the world died in “selfie-related” incidents. Over half were in India.
This is all a lot more serious than amusing stories of people tripping over or falling down holes while sending texts. What is it about mobile phones that just makes people turn their brains off?
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/07/01/german-tourist-falls-to-his-death-while-trying-to-take-photo-atop-machu-picchu/?tid=sm_fb
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/03/03/wash-man-accidentally-killed-himself-while-taking-a-selfie-with-his-gun-police-say/?tid=a_inl