india

Updated: Feb 01, 2016 11:23 IST

A 17-year-old boy was run over by a train while attempting to take a selfie on railway tracks in Chennai, adding to a growing number of similar incidents in a country which accounted for half of the world’s selfie deaths last year.

The incident occurred on Sunday evening when the boy was trying to take a selfie with a train as the backdrop, a report in the Deccan Chronicle said.

The victim was identified as one Dena Sukumar, a plus-2 student of Poonamallee Aringnar Anna government higher secondary school.

The report added that the boy was chatting with some of his friends by the railway tracks when they decided to take selfies on the tracks, leading to the incident.

The death of the youngster came a few weeks after two youths drowned in the Narmada in Madhya Pradesh while trying to take a selfie. Prior to that, a man and a girl drowned in the Arabian Sea in Mumbai -- the man was trying to save the girl who had slipped into the sea while trying to take a selfie.

Following the incident, Mumbai police banned selfies in 16 spots identified as dangerous.

Raising an alarm over the issue, a recent report on such deaths around the world and published in the Washington Post, said that out of at least 27 “selfie-related” deaths around the world last year, about half occurred in India.

However, not only Indians are addicted to selfies.

A Japanese tourist had died at the Taj Mahal recently after falling off the steps of the monument while attempting a selfie.

Experts say that selfies have become an attention-seeking activity for youths trying to find self-esteem and self-worth in the ‘likes’ and comments on various social media platforms.