Girl falls to death in Dubai while trying to take selfie

A 16-year-old girl fell to death from a highrise on the Sheikh Zayed Road as she tried to take a selfie, the Dubai Police have confirmed. Colonel Faisal Al Qasim, director of the police's security media, told Khaleej Times the girl tried to take a selfie from the balcony of her parents' 17th-floor apartment when she fell.
She was standing on a chair in the balcony when she lost balance and plunged to death.
She died on the spot. "We used to warn people against using phones while driving, and now we have to warn them from using phones in such dangerous positions," the officer said.
An investigation has been launched to determine the exact circumstances surrounding the fall.
Though this is the first ever such case reported in the UAE, deaths caused by reckless selfies, or 'killfies' as they are known, are not rare.
A 2018 study published by US National Library of Medicine found that a total of 259 selfie-related deaths were reported between 2011 and 2017.
There were, in fact, a string of much-publicised selfie-deaths like the Indian couple Vishnu Viswanath, 29, and Meenakshi Moorthy, 30, who fell to their deaths from a cliffpoint at Yosemite National Park in California last October, and the death of an 18-year-old from Jerusalem who died while taking a selfie at Nevada fall.
There were also several reported deaths while taking that perfect shot when hanging from cliffs, while driving, posing with animals and fire to name a few.
The number of people who take high-risk selfies to get fan-following on social media accounts is on the rise, prompting UAE authorities to issue strict warnings.
In 2017, Russian model Viktoria Odintcova made headlines after her picture dangling from Cayan Tower in Dubai emerged.
After several such dangerous selfie stunts atop Dubai skyscrapers, the Dubai Municipality had issued strict warnings against dangerous selfie-adventurists using high-rise buildings.