Seven die in failed selfie attempt

[rh71]

What does losing your balance in the water mean? The article says they lost their balance and drowned (note no mention of an undercurrent or entanglement). I've never lost my balance in the water, but then again, I've never tried to keep my balance in the water.

I'd imagine in attempting to take a selfie, he contorted himself to make it an interesting picture on the grounds just above the water and in doing so, slipped & fell in. Doubtful he was actually in the water since it's obvious anyone who entered it got swept away and drowned as described.

There's a fine line between bravery and stupidity. Maybe it's because they have to train this out of us in the steel mill, but here in the states OSHA is very clear about getting somebody with the right training and equipment to help so you don't end up in trouble yourself. This mostly applies to confined spaces where people could pass out if gas builds up that you can't see, but it's really the same concept. After the first two or three people get in trouble in the same part of the water, the rest of them should have understood this wasn't something to fuck with and to get REAL help.

These were barely above teenagers (except one who was 31). What would you do at that age before professional training? You have to make a split-second decision before they get too far away. Could go either way if you asked me back then.

The deceased have been identified as Sachin Gupta (21), Bholu Tiwari (20), Rohit (20), Shivam (19), Maqsood (31), Bhola (16) and Satyam (24).

 

[Nashemon]

I'd imagine in attempting to take a selfie, he contorted himself to make it an interesting picture on the grounds just above the water and in doing so, slipped & fell in. Doubtful he was actually in the water since it's obvious anyone who entered it got swept away and drowned as described.

I'm not seeing where it says he was swept away. See my original post. There was no mention about any current or entanglement, which are the normal causes of drowning.

From the article:

Shivam was clicking a selfie while bathing following which he lost his balance and started drowning in the river.

Bathing. Lost balance. Started drowning.

What about the subsequent attempts to save him? How do they lose their balance? They are not trying to take a selfie of the rescue attempt.

Maqsood tried to save Shivam but he too lost his balance due to the high water level and high current following heavy rainfall.

Drowned because he lost his balance, seemingly because of the high water level. Either they can't swim, or losing balance is an Indianism that means something I'm unfamiliar with.

 

[blankslate]

Anyone who knows anything about saving a drowning person knows that you never, ever attempt a rescue unless you are trained and it's safe for you. These people were as good as dead if they weren't trained in water rescue and simply jumped in after him.

That's why I carry rope, duct tape, a hatchet, a saw and a machete in my trunk

That way I can throw the rope to a drowning person. if the Rope isn't long enough I can tied and duct-tape a branch to the end of it for extra length. Or if I have to I can use one of the other tools to obtain said branch to attach to the rope.

I have no idea why the officer didn't believe me when he pulled me over....


_____________________

 

[Gooberlx2]

I'm not seeing where it says he was swept away.

It doesn't. Consider it lost in translation. Basically, they lost their footing and were swept away. The article does make it clear that the water level and currents were high, you can infer the rest from that.

 

[rh71]

It doesn't. Consider it lost in translation. Basically, they lost their footing and were swept away. The article does make it clear that the water level and currents were high, you can infer the rest from that.

You know a definitive way to tell if he was in the water itself? What model cell phone was it and is it waterproof?

Other than that, lost in translation is about right.

 

[rh71]

That's why I carry rope, duct tape, a hatchet, a saw and a machete in my trunk

That way I can throw the rope to a drowning person. if the Rope isn't long enough I can tied and duct-tape a branch to the end of it for extra length. Or if I have to I can use one of the other tools to obtain said branch to attach to the rope.

I have no idea why the officer didn't believe me when he pulled me over....


_____________________

Probably because of the missing girl in the area!

 

[madoka]

Out of 28 global selfie related deaths so far in 2016, 22 of them have been Indians. India should ban camera phones until their people are more ready for them.

Indians on a roll:

https://nypost.com/2018/05/04/man-mauled-to-death-by-bear-while-taking-selfie/

A man was mauled to death by a wounded bear this week when he foolishly tried to take a photograph alongside the apex predator — the third wild animal-related selfie fatality in this region of India in less than a year, according to reports.

The victim, identified by local media as Prabhu Bhatara, was driving a group of people home from a wedding in an SUV when he stopped to relieve himself in a forest area in the eastern Indian state of Odisha on Wednesday evening, the Hindustan Times reported.

Bhatara then spotted an injured bear and for some reason, decided to take a selfie with the creature, according to the report. When the man approached, the bear’s fight instinct immediately kicked in.

“Bhatara died on the spot,” forest ranger Dhanurjaya Mohapatra told the news outlet.

Horrific video of the incident filmed by a bystander shows the bear attacking Bhatara, as terrified witnesses scream.

A stray dog even attempted to go after the bear by barking at it, but Bhatara could not be saved.

Bhatara’s death is Odisha’s third selfie-related fatality since December. A 50-year-old man was crushed to death by a wild elephant while trying to take a selfie with the animal in December, according to local media. Also that month, a youth was crushed to death while taking a selfie, also with an elephant, reports said.

 

[madoka]

Out of 28 global selfie related deaths so far in 2016, 22 of them have been Indians. India should ban camera phones until their people are more ready for them.

107 more selfie deaths or injuries in India since I wrote this, including 48 who tried taking selfies next to a burning building:

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/sto...okers-injured-selfie-craze-1024652-2017-07-17

Many experts believe that the selfie phenomenon might spell doom for many in the coming years, but the trend seems to be catching up sooner that we thought.

As many as 48 onlookers were injured, while standing too close to a bakery in Kodungaiyur that was engulfed in tall flames on Sunday.

Talking to eyewitnesses, India Today learned that despite announcements being made to the enclosing crowd- busy taking selfies at the site, that it was unsafe to be in such close vicinity, the onlookers did not budge.

The bakery caught fire in the wee hours of Sunday due to gas leak that filled the small shop within minutes due to lack of vents in the premises.

In no time, another fire blast or fireball rocked the bakery, killing a firefighter and injuring three more apart from the 48 people standing around the bakery.

Firefighter Egarajan was among those who went inside to douse the fire succumbed to his injuries on Sunday. Chief Minister E Palaniswami soon announced ex-gratia of Rs 13 lakh to his family.

"The number of injured is so high because they were not listening to us. Many were standing close to the shop and taking 'selfies' not realising the danger they were in, no matter how many times we attempted to clear the area", stated an officer.

 

[Herr Kutz]

To be fair, one died from taking a selfie. The other 6 died attempting to save him.

There was a similar story a few years back in the US, although it had nothing to do with taking a selfie.

https://abcnews.go.com/WN/teens-drown-wading-louisianas-red-river/story?id=11312631

 

[thebestMAX]

You are a better swimmer than I, Ganga Din.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I don't get how people manage to die during selfies, it's not that hard to continue to have situational awareness and use a camera at the same time. There are also situations where it's just a bad idea to attempt to take one and perhaps this was one of those situations. I kinda wanted to take a selfie with a bear once but I realized it would be a bad idea since it would require turning my back to it. That particular bear already seemed a little antsy and kept getting closer to me and testing me. Had a staring contest and stand off for a few minutes before it finally backed off.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I love natural selection. It solves tons of problems in life on its own.

Here is the latest selfie fun - Man in India thought "Oh hey, how about I go try to take a selfie with that bear over there?"

https://nypost.com/2018/05/04/man-mauled-to-death-by-bear-while-taking-selfie/

EDIT: Damn Madoka beat me on this story.

 

[SKORPI0]

 

[WelshBloke]

What does losing your balance in the water mean? The article says they lost their balance and drowned (note no mention of an undercurrent or entanglement). I've never lost my balance in the water, but then again, I've never tried to keep my balance in the water. I didn't know it was a requirement to prevent drowning. Google only mentions it as a technique for professional swimmers to prevent yourself from slowing down depending on the stroke you are doing.

I don't think that's what these guys were doing. So in this case, I think losing their balance means losing their footing. When I lose my footing in water, I do this thing called swimming, which keeps my head above the water and prevents me from drowning. If losing their balance led directly to drowning of 22 Indians this year, I don't think the problem is selfies. I think it's a problem with lack of swimming lessons in India.

Also, I'm surprised they fished out the bodies given how many dead bodies are left decomposing in that river.

WTF? Can you really not work this out? (And I'm not trying to be rude here, it just seems self explanatory to me).

They were standing in a fast flowing, big arse river. Tried to take a selfie, lost their balance in the current, fell over, got swept away and drowned.

 

[AdamK47]

Indians are very selfie-centered people.

 

[zinfamous]

I don't get how people manage to die during selfies, it's not that hard to continue to have situational awareness and use a camera at the same time. There are also situations where it's just a bad idea to attempt to take one and perhaps this was one of those situations. I kinda wanted to take a selfie with a bear once but I realized it would be a bad idea since it would require turning my back to it. That particular bear already seemed a little antsy and kept getting closer to me and testing me. Had a staring contest and stand off for a few minutes before it finally backed off.

I was at Great Falls national park a few weeks ago, as one does, and noticed a gaggle of chicks taking a selfie. It's a relatively safe park, if you do the thing and stick to the proper paths in the danger zones...during the seasons when the water is actually rushing down the chasms and filling the void with millions and millions of gallons of water ever second.

But then there was this group of girls, who clearly didn't give a shit about any of that. I watched them from one of the bridges, as they had leaned out from one of the cliffs, accessing an area that they would have had to break a few barriers to get to, just to take their photos. And they took their time. Leaning out, posting, dangling, making as much drama as they could, with the fury of the water as their background. It was kinda awesome. I was expecting at least one of them to die--not that I wanted that, because half of them were pretty hot--but I can't say I would have been sympathetic...I was more concerned for the dozens of kids in the area that were about to witness some young chicks die in front of their eyes, for the benefit of a few selfies live-updated to Instagram or whateverthefuck kids are doing these days.

 

[lxskllr]

I was at Great Falls national park a few weeks ago, as one does, and noticed a gaggle of chicks taking a selfie. It's a relatively safe park, if you do the thing and stick to the proper paths in the danger zones...during the seasons when the water is actually rushing down the chasms and filling the void with millions and millions of gallons of water ever second.

My goal was to run great falls in my canoe by the time I was 30. I was about two years away from that goal when I quit paddling to spend more time with my daughter.

Big water's weird. I was paddling a section between great and little falls, and ended up out of the boat where two branches joined making the water unstable. I went straight down to the bottom before I got spit up, and the boat went away(got caught by the guy I was with). I always preferred technical creek runs.

 

[Darwin333]

Is this better?

Yes, that one is much better and truly Darwin worthy.

 

[Darwin333]

What does losing your balance in the water mean? The article says they lost their balance and drowned (note no mention of an undercurrent or entanglement). I've never lost my balance in the water, but then again, I've never tried to keep my balance in the water. I didn't know it was a requirement to prevent drowning. Google only mentions it as a technique for professional swimmers to prevent yourself from slowing down depending on the stroke you are doing.

I don't think that's what these guys were doing. So in this case, I think losing their balance means losing their footing. When I lose my footing in water, I do this thing called swimming, which keeps my head above the water and prevents me from drowning. If losing their balance led directly to drowning of 22 Indians this year, I don't think the problem is selfies. I think it's a problem with lack of swimming lessons in India.

Also, I'm surprised they fished out the bodies given how many dead bodies are left decomposing in that river.

4th sentence in:

Maqsood tried to save Shivam but he too lost his balance due to the high water level and high current following heavy rainfall

I'm going to assume that the water was moving faster towards the middle but still moving where the first one was standing. When he fell he either fell towards the middle or got pulled there by the water and the others had to follow them into the fast moving water to attempt a rescue. I find it hard to believe, albeit not impossible, that six people who didn't know how to swim went into the water to save their drowning friends. They all likely just underestimated the current since they were used to it not being nearly as strong.

 

[Darwin333]

I was at Great Falls national park a few weeks ago, as one does, and noticed a gaggle of chicks taking a selfie. It's a relatively safe park, if you do the thing and stick to the proper paths in the danger zones...during the seasons when the water is actually rushing down the chasms and filling the void with millions and millions of gallons of water ever second.

But then there was this group of girls, who clearly didn't give a shit about any of that. I watched them from one of the bridges, as they had leaned out from one of the cliffs, accessing an area that they would have had to break a few barriers to get to, just to take their photos. And they took their time. Leaning out, posting, dangling, making as much drama as they could, with the fury of the water as their background. It was kinda awesome. I was expecting at least one of them to die--not that I wanted that, because half of them were pretty hot--but I can't say I would have been sympathetic...I was more concerned for the dozens of kids in the area that were about to witness some young chicks die in front of their eyes, for the benefit of a few selfies live-updated to Instagram or whateverthefuck kids are doing these days.

So if they weren't hot you would have wanted them to die?

 

[luv2liv]

another recent selfie death, also in India!
man tried to take selfie with injured bear.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/bear-kills-man-trying-to-click-selfie-with-it-third-such-death-in-odisha/story-FjOuM94Is0DDZiKJoEzWsJ.html.

direct youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf5G928jqJI

 

[Genx87]

Sad part about that bear attack. I am sure they killed the bear for doing what bears do.

 

[zinfamous]

So if they weren't hot you would have wanted them to die?

Wanted? not really. Less sympathetic...possibly.


Hey, I thought this was the humor forum?

 

[Darwin333]

Wanted? not really. Less sympathetic...possibly.


Hey, I thought this was the humor forum?

It's all good brother, just wanted to make sure I understood your position.

 

[Ns1]

another recent selfie death, also in India!
man tried to take selfie with injured bear.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/bear-kills-man-trying-to-click-selfie-with-it-third-such-death-in-odisha/story-FjOuM94Is0DDZiKJoEzWsJ.html.

direct youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf5G928jqJI

wow, that video showed a lot more than I expected it to.