Taking a photo of yourself has become a dangerous business.

It may seem astounding, but more people have died this year from taking selfies than shark attacks.

Figures crunched by Mashable.com showed that eight people have been killed in shark attacks in 2015, but 12 people have died after taking a selfie.

The latest tragedy was that of Hideto Ueda, a 66-year-old Japanese tourist in India, who died after falling down a flight of stairs while trying to take a selfie at the Taj Mahal.

Four of the selfie deaths this year have been a result of a fall. In other cases, the person who died taking a selfie was hit by a train or killed while attempting to climb on to dangerous equipment.

There was much mirth in July when the Russian government published a brochure stating that selfies “could cost you your life”, but there appears to be truth behind the warning.

An aide to Russia’s interior minister told Al Jazeera: “Before taking a selfie, everyone should think about the fact that racing after a high number of ‘likes’ could lead him on a journey to death and his last extreme photo could turn out to be posthumous.”

(Picture: Rex Features)

