Selfie

2020

Russia entered the top three countries in terms of the number of deaths due to selfies in 12 years

At the end of October 2021, a group of scientists from Spanish universities published the results of a study of deaths and injuries recorded during selfies. According to the report, Russia was among the top three in terms of the number of dead people during this fun.

The first documented case of death occurred in 2008. From that moment to 2020, a total of 433 people were seriously affected by selfies, of which 379 died, and almost 40% of the victims were travelers.

Russia entered the top three countries in the number of deaths due to selfies in 12 years

If in 2013 there were only three deaths due to selfies, then in 2019 - already 68. The pandemic of coronavirus COVID-19 reduced mortality - in 2020, 37 cases were recorded.

Leading countries were identified by the number of accidents. In the first place was India, where they recorded 26% of deaths during selfies of the total. In second place is the United States, where 10% of people died between 2008 and 2021. The third place was taken by Russia, where 8.7% of deaths during selfies were recorded.

The average age of the dead, according to the study, was 24.4 years. The most common cause of death during selfies was a fall from a height, for example, when trying to take photos on top of a waterfall. Selfies in transport, especially on trains, and selfies in the water also become frequent causes of death - in 13.5% of all accidents, those taking photos drowned.

Experts at the British risk and safety assessment firm Rhino Safety counted seven fatalities in the world in 2020 due to selfies against a record 107 in 2017. Moreover, men die in such incidents more than twice as often as women.

The largest number of deaths due to selfies occurs among tourists, but many cases are recorded during work. So, in July 2021, a Chinese crane operator crashed during a live broadcast, which led at an altitude of 50 meters.^[1]

Neural network announcement for character determination by selfie

In August 2020, a group of researchers from the University [[Graduate School of Economics' Graduate School of Economics]] and the Open University of Humanities and Economics demonstrated the ability of artificial intelligence to determine type of person's identity by selfie. For this, experts used technology of the Russian startup BestFitMe, which is engaged in systems for creating psychometric personality profiles according to a photo portrait, and created a neural network. More details here.

2019: A resident of Russia confused a gun with a smartphone and shot herself in the head during a selfie

On September 18, 2019, it became known that a 36-year-old resident of Omsk confused a smartphone with a gun during a selfie.

According to the press service of the regional Ministry of Internal Affairs, the woman, while her roommate went to another room, took a traumatic gun belonging to him and decided to take a selfie with a weapon, pointing the blow towards the head. But instead of the screen, the phone pulled the trigger.

The victim was taken to the hospital with head injuries, nothing threatens her life.

In the apartment, police found a traumatic MP-79 pistol and a smooth-bore gun registered to the owner. Nunchaks also found there.

A resident of Russia confused a gun with a smartphone and shot herself in the head during a selfie

Eastern weapons, according to the conclusion of the forensic examination, are made by a homemade method like nunchaku and are edged weapons of strike-fragmentation action, the agency said.

A 59-year-old man during interrogation said that he had made nunchaks. A criminal case was opened against him under part 4 of article 223 of the Criminal Code ("Illegal manufacture of knives").

A similar case in May 2019 occurred in Moscow. A 15-year-old schoolgirl accidentally shot herself in the head with a pistol when she decided to take a selfie. A ninth-grader found a weapon at home with her young man.

According to her, the weapon spontaneously fired as she shifted it from one hand to another. The girl herself called the emergency services, after which she was hospitalized.

Earlier in 2019, in the Rostov region, a 14-year-old teenager died as a result of an electric shock that he received while trying to take a selfie. The incident occurred in July.

The boy climbed onto the train and received an electric shock. With burns of 90% of the body surface, he was hospitalized, but the life of the child could not be saved.^[2]

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