Man Dies Taking Selfie: Tourist Dies After Falling Down Steps At Taj Mahal

A man dies while trying to take a selfie while visiting the Taj Mahal in India. According to the Huffington Post, Hideto Ueda, 66, was attempting to take a photo of himself, but fell down a staircase. The Japanese national was with a friend, tying to snap a photo in front of the mausoleum’s Royal Gate, when they both took a tumble. Ueda suffered a heart attack and died while his friend ended up with a fractured leg, according to the report.

“He was rushed in an ambulance to the hospital but he could not be revived. A postmortem was carried out and the cause of death is heart attack. We have duly informed the Japanese Embassy about the unfortunate incident,” said police officer Sushant Gaur.

The Taj Mahal death wasn’t the first of its kind — that is, of someone getting killed while trying to take a selfie. According to BBC News, there have been other instances of people trying to take pictures, but facing life-ending accidents in the process.

“In May, a 21-year-old woman survived accidentally shooting herself in the head while posing for a selfie with a gun in Moscow. There have also been several cases of children being electrocuted while taking selfies on top of railway carriages in Russia.

“In August, a man in Spain was gored to death by a bull while taking a selfie at the annual bull running festival in the town of Villaseca de la Sagra.”

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, it seems as though people are willing to risk their lives to obtain that perfect self-portrait and to share their “selfie” on social media. According to the report, there are a few countries who have taken action to help protect people from themselves — and their dedication to getting a cool picture to share with the world — or whoever wants to see.

“In… Russia — one of the U.S.’s staunchest political adversaries — is in agreement with America and the European Union that the dangerous selfies must be addressed. Some examples of the disturbing trends are taking place at Yellowstone National Park, where a series of incidents in which eager tourists got too close to bison and end up getting gored, have park rangers annoyed. Some nations, such as India, have been forced to put ‘no selfie zone’ signs to keep people safe.”

People wishing to take selfies are reminded to be cautious of their surroundings at all times.

[Photo by Dmitrij Rodionov | Wikimedia Commons]