india

Updated: Jun 26, 2019 15:57 IST

Hundreds of people have died in India and more have met with serious accidents while trying to take that perfect selfie.

But in Changanassery in central Kerala’s Kottayam district, selfies actually helped save a man’s life in the nick of time.

The man, who decided to kill himself after reportedly falling out with his wife, sent selfies to his friends while lying on a railway track on Tuesday. He told them that he was going to end his life.

As his friends and wife tried to frantically find the exact spot from where the mane had been sending the selfies, a yellow rail milestone and the number helped them locate him.

One of his friends, who was travelling on the New Delhi-bound Kerala Express, ran to the train’s driver and identified the spot where he was lying. Immediately, all trains passing through the stretch were asked run slow and the man was overpowered and rescued.

Angry railway police let him off only after the man and his wife gave an undertaking that they won’t quarrel over minor issues. They also withheld their names and other details of the ‘selfie hero’ to save him from further ignominy.

Last year, a man was hit by a train in Hyderabad while standing next to a railway track to take a selfie. He survived with injuries and was fined Rs 500 by a local court.

Selfie addicts, however, say only negative stories get wild publicity and many such positive ones are missed.

Researchers from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur have said in a 2018 study that about half of the 259 reported selfie deaths and accidents between 2011 and 2017 worldwide occurred in India.

Also read: Selfie on Mumbai local roof goes wrong as teen suffers 90% burns

The researchers said that the majority of these so-called “killfies” were caused by drowning, being hit by a train or car, or falling from a great height.