Officers will warn people against photographing themselves at sites across Indian city following incident at weekend

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Mumbai police have identified 16 dangerous selfie spots across the Indian city after a man drowned trying to save a girl who fell in to the sea while taking a photo of herself.

The spots include the major tourist attractions of Girgaum Chowpatty beach and Marine Drive promenade as well as the site where the 18-year-old slipped last week, the deputy commissioner, Dhananjay Kulkarni, said.

“After the unfortunate incident we have decided to identify 16 spots where taking selfies can be dangerous, but we may add more,” he said.

“We have written to the municipal corporation to put some warning signs up at such points. We want them to deploy some lifeguards also,” Kulkarni added.

The girl and two friends fell off rocks into the Arabian Sea near Bandra bandstand in the north of India’s financial capital while taking selfies on Saturday.

A passerby, 37-year-old Ramesh Walanju, jumped in and helped save the two friends but was washed away by the choppy waters and his body was found in a nearby creek on Monday. The girl is still missing.

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Police patrolling the selected areas have been briefed to warn people against taking selfies, the deputy commissioner said.

Last month a Pakistani man died in Rawalpindi after being hit by a fast-moving train as he tried to take a selfie while standing on the track.

In May last year a Russian woman accidentally shot herself in the head with a pistol while posing for a selfie with the weapon. And US investigators in February said a small plane probably crashed because the pilot was repeatedly taking selfies, killing him and his lone passenger.