Russian Officials Release ‘Safe Selfies’ Guide After Dozens Of Deaths

“A cool selfie could cost you your life,” according to a pamphlet on from the Russian Ministry of the Interior. The pamphlet is part of a campaign to make selfies safer after at least 100 injuries and dozens of deaths.

The Agence France Presse highlighted a few stories of selfie-related deaths that caught the Russian government’s attention.

A 21-year-old woman in Moscow shot herself in the head while posing with a handgun. The woman survived, but suffered from head injuries.

Similarly, two men blew themselves up while taking a selfie holding a live hand grenade — with the pin out — in the Urals. The men didn’t survive, but miraculously, the phone with the picture did.

Some others don’t even get to take that final shot. One man who wanted to take a selfie on a railway bridge died when he came into contact with live wires trying to climb to his picture location. Those accidents may help explain the government’s new “safe selfie” guide, which is made to be easy to understand, even without knowing the Russian language.

“Before taking a selfie, everyone should think about the fact that racing after a high number of ‘likes’ could lead him on a journey to death and his last extreme photo could turn out to be posthumous.”

Starting Tuesday, the police will begin to hand out the safe selfie guides. The government will also start promoting tips over social media and on videos on the ministry’s website.

According to Quartz, dangerous selfies are more than just a Russian problem. People from around the world have been leaning over railways, while others are taking cell phone pictures while driving, or flying. One man in Wales was even electrocuted when his metal selfie stick was struck by lightning.

The problem has even forced Disneyland to enact strict regulations.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, someone brought a selfie stick onto the Screamin’ California roller coaster in Disney’s California Adventure, forcing operators to shut down the ride. The incident prompted Disney to eliminate selfie sticks from its parks entirely, even using signs similar to the road-sign style used by the Russian officials in their pamphlets.

Whether the Russian safe selfie guides will have an effect is unclear — young people will have to weigh the value of popular Facebook pictures with the risks to their own lives.

[Image Credit: Getty Images]