Most Dangerous Selfies Ever Taken

At this point, almost everyone has taken out their smartphone to snap a photo of themselves. In fact, you can probably find a selfie on your social media right now. (No need to check; you already know it’s true.)

But when taken in dangerous circumstances, selfies can also be deadly. Between 2011 and 2017, 259 people died in the pursuit of one, according to a study published by Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care. 

Oftentimes, these dangerous selfies are taken while traveling, with people scaling skyscrapers, cliffs and bridges to capture a photo to remember. Some people regularly take photos they know to be precarious; others have posted a questionable shot or two, perhaps because they didn’t fully understand the risks involved.

If you want to take an amazing selfie, absolutely go for it. But the following shots, we think, took things too far. 

This pic from Yekaterinburg, Russia, is dizzying and more than a little alarming.

In recent years, Russia in particular has seen an influx in young thrill-seekers taking dangerous selfies. There have been so many injuries and deaths that the Russian Interior Ministry launched a “safe selfie” campaign a couple years ago.

Rio de Janeiro’s Serra do Mar features a stunning gorge bridge with active trains. For the last few years, risk-takers have made their way onto its trestles for insane selfies.

Nearly a dozen people have fallen off of bridges taking selfies since 2014, including a woman who tumbled from Spain’s Puente de Triana bridge.

Pictures like this prove that dangerous selfies constitute one of the dumbest tourist behaviors ever.

Train selfies became such a problem in places like Sri Lanka and India that they have been banned.

This is just one of many gasp-inducing pictures snapped by Daniel Lau, one of the world’s most well-known daredevil photographers. On Instagram, he’ll often share details about the lengths he goes to get the perfect, completely dangerous shot. 

In this photo, the skyscrapers of Hong Kong set the shocking scene.