More people have died from taking selfies than from shark attacks this past year

This is an interesting fact: taking selfies has killed more people than shark attacks so far this year. The statistics show that 12 people have died trying to take the perfect selfie, while eight people have died from shark attacks.

The incident that has brought upon interest in these findings (from Mashable) is a Japanese tourist who died by falling down the steps of the Taj Mahal when trying to take a selfie recently.

According to Yahoo Tech, the 66-year-old man suffered head injuries from the fall, which led to his death.

The increasing amount of deaths due to selfies has led to countries taking precautions to warn people about taking photos of themselves in hazardous conditions.

The BBC reports Russia has started a ‘Safe Selfie’ campaign with the slogan “Even a million 'likes' on social media are not worth your life and well-being."

Selfies have become even more popular with the invention of the selfie stick, which has been banned in Disneyland and Disney World as of this past summer.

However, Washington Post is calling out Mashable's statistics as incorrect, calling selfie-related deaths as being caused by an “underlying mechanism” or an “intermediate mechanism."

image courtesy of RogerWong/INFphoto.com