Three teens crushed by train as they take selfie

All the four were sitting on a track and on seeing an approaching train they jumped towards the other track without realising that Delhi-Kalka passenger train was fast approaching on it

M. S. Dabas,

police officer

new delhi — Three teenagers were killed while taking selfies on a railway track in India, the country which researchers say has the worst record for selfie-related deaths.

A fourth youth managed to jump to safety before the accident in Panipat city in the northern state of Haryana, a police officer said on Wednesday.

“The victims were busy taking selfies and when they saw a train approaching they jumped to a second track without realising another train was coming on that,” M. S. Dabas said.

“All the four were sitting on a track and on seeing an approaching train they jumped towards the other track without realising that Delhi-Kalka passenger train was fast approaching on it,” he said.

“One of them saved his life as he jumped on the other side of the track.” The group had come to Panipat to attend a wedding.

Experts warn that youngsters obsessed with social media are going to extreme lengths in order to post selfies seen as daring and risky.

A study last year by researchers from the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences said 259 people across the world had died while taking selfies between 2011 and 2017.

The highest number of incidents and selfie deaths were reported in India followed by Russia, the US, and Pakistan, the study said. There have been several incidents in the past across the country when some youths have lost their lives or put their lives in danger while clicking selfies on railway tracks, atop railway bridges or dangerously hanging out from running trains.

In 2017 three students were killed on a railway track in southern Karnataka state, while a man died in Odisha after an elephant wrapped its trunk around the man and crushed him to death as he tried to take a selfie with the animal.

“With majority of India’s population being youth, several youths are driven by selfie craze, but some of them put their lives at risk posing for pictures completely ignoring the dangers involved,” said Rohit Kumar, a 22-year-old university student here.