An elderly Japanese tourist has fallen to his death while taking a selfie on top of a staircase at the Taj Mahal.

The tourist, identified as 66-year-old Hideto Ueda, was apparently trying to take a picture of himself and a colleague at the world famous site’s Royal Gate.

An eyewitness said that the pair both fell while attempting the selfie.

Police said that Ueda died as a result of the accident, while his colleague suffered a fractured leg.

Police official Sushant Gaur said: “He was rushed in an ambulance to the hospital but he could not be revived.

“A postmortem was carried out and the cause of death is heart attack.

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“We have duly informed the Japanese Embassy about the unfortunate incident.”

An investigation into the incident has now been launched.

The accident marks the latest in a line of accidents as a result of attempted selfies this year.

A man was gored to death by a bull in Spain in August while taking a selfie at the bull running festival in Villaseca de la Sagra.

Earlier in the year, a 21-year-old woman managed to accidentally shoot herself in the head while posing with a gun in Moscow while there have also been several cases of children being electrocuted while taking selfies on top of railway carriages.

Pics: Rex