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Here's Why India Is Now The Selfie-Death Capital Of The World

Selfies kill five times more people than sharks.

There are a lot of bad places to take selfies. Holocaust memorials, for example, although for some reason we still need to tell people that. Probably the only place in the world worse for a selfie than a Holocaust memorial is in front of a moving train, but again, some people still haven’t got that memo. Selfie deaths happen all over the globe, but only India has managed to take out the title as selfie death capital of the world.

A study published in the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care found that 259 people from around the world died in 137 separate selfie-related accidents between 2011 and 2017. Of those deaths, the vast majority – about half – happened in India. 

Russia, the United States and Pakistan take out second, third, and fourth place.

Keep in mind, this study only counted fatalities. It didn’t count near misses, like this dude who got hit by a train while taking a selfie, or the 48 people who suffered burns while taking selfies in front of a burning bakery. Both of those incidents happened in India as well.

So what’s making India such a hotspot for selfie deaths? According to the study, the fact that group selfies are super popular in India might explain the higher ratio of deaths to incidents than other countries. Also the sheer amount of people under 30 (the main group dying from selfies) might be a potential factor.

If you’d rather go by getting eaten by a T-Rex than falling from a cliff taking a selfie, then check out the GOAT Team chatting to a palaeontologist about all things prehistoric…

In a different survey conducted by Case24.com, 41 percent of people admitted to already risking their safety at one point or another whilst trying to snap a selfie. They also found that 11% of people have already copped some sort of selfie related injury. 

Look, I’m no expert, but I’ve made it this far in life without accidentally killing myself for a selfie. May I put forward the simple suggestion that we all agree to stop taking selfies in dumb places, and stay the hell away from moving vehicles and fires? Yes? Fabulous.

Always be in the loop with our snackable podcast breaking the biggest story of the day. Subscribe to It’s Been A Big Day For… on your favourite podcast app.

The Video Of ‘Mad’ Mike Hughes’ Failed Rocket Launch Is Hard To Watch

He died after an attempt to prove that the earth is flat went wrong.

We woke up this morning to the news that ‘Mad’ Mike Hughes – daredevil, flat earther, Guinness World Record holder for longest limousine ramp jump, and rocket lover – had died after his parachutes failed on a homemade rocket. He was 64.

The earth is round, by the way

The launch was an attempt to prove that the earth was flat. Hughes had strapped himself to a steam powered rocket, and launched himself 5000ft (a bit over a kilometer and a half) into the air with the hopes that he’d be able to see for himself that the earth had no curve. 

A video of the crash has been circulating since the news of his death broke, and it’s an intense watch.

When the video starts, you can see the parachutes trailing after the rocket. They’d been deployed too early. As the video goes on, you can see a tiny dot – the part of the rocket that Hughes is in – plummet to the ground.

It’s a hard video to see through until the end, and the captions prediction that he likely didn’t survive turned out to be true.

The launch was being filmed as part of a series for The Science Channel called Homemade Astronauts, a show that chronicles the lives of DIY rocketeers as they try and get to space on a budget.

Hughes had previously made headlines for being sponsored by dating apps and launching himself in a different homemade rocket as high as 1,870ft (570m) last year. 

After a bumpy landing on the previous launch, Hughes said at the time “Am I glad I did it? Yeah, I guess. I’ll feel it in the morning. I won’t be able to get out of bed. At least I can go home and have dinner and see my cats tonight.”

Always be in the loop with our snackable podcast breaking the biggest story of the day. Subscribe to It’s Been A Big Day For… on your favourite podcast app.

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