The Deadliest Destination For Selfies Is In South Asia (And Travelers Are Shocked By The Numbers)

They say a picture paints a thousand words, but India's selfie culture tells a tragic tale you'd rather not hear or be a part of. With a total of 271 selfie-related incidents (of which 214 claimed lives), India received the dubious title of being the deadliest destination for taking selfies, comprising 42.1% of worldwide selfie casualties. These sobering statistics, highlighted in the New York Post, were pulled from The Barber Law Firm's study based on Google News reports between March 2014 and May 2025. India's selfie-caused deaths and accidents outranked the U.S., which came in second. The disparity between the two nations was shockingly by the hundreds, with only 45 incidents in total for the latter, 37 of which were fatal. 

Kris Barber, founder and principal attorney of The Barber Law Firm, called the results "a troubling trend where the pursuit of social media validation is literally costing lives" in a New York Post statement. Proving the lack of situational awareness among trigger-happy selfie takers, 46% of global cases were attributed to falling, be it from rooftops, cliff sides, or other high vantage points. A 2023 study of selfie-related incidents published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research attributes this trend to risky behavior, pointing out that men are more susceptible to taking risks than women in such situations, which could explain why males accounted for  72.5% of the study's selfie-related casualties. 

While India boasts destinations like Minicoy Island, a secret tropical getaway that boasts bright coral reefs, or Keibul Lamjao National Park, the world's only floating national park, the country's densely populated metropolises and bustling tourist attractions provide fodder for risky photo ops. Add dangerous areas lacking proper surveillance and a strong selfie culture to the mix, and you get a perfect cocktail for disaster. 

Back in 2017, selfie-related deaths made headlines across India: Three teenagers were hit by a train while posing for a photo, and a student was left to drown by his picture-taking friends. These and similar incidents earned India its reputation as a "selfie-death hotspot."  The government ramped up efforts to prevent such accidents by banning selfies from railway tracks, flyovers, and bridges with the threat of jail time. 

"No selfie zones" were established in several Mumbai tourist spots in the hopes of deterring people — or at least making them think twice — before snapping a selfie in these destinations. Yet casualties involving individuals seeking the perfect picture are still being reported, including a family of four drowning to death after falling into a dam in 2019, or a newlywed woman falling 61 meters to her death down a gorge in Pune in 2023. 

When the Oxford Dictionary named "selfie" as 2013's word of the year, no one could have predicted the tragic lengths happy snappers would go to have theirs taken. Perhaps the desire for one's smiling mug isn't worth being trampled by an elephant or falling into a waterfall. As Barber succinctly summed up in a New York Post statement, "There are always safer alternatives to capture beautiful moments without putting yourself at risk. No amount of likes or shares can justify endangering your life."