The leaflet, issued on Tuesday, calls on Russians to avoid potentially risky situations, and warns that “a cool selfie could cost you your life”. She survived, but was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
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That was just one in a string of recent selfie-related accidents.
In January 2015, two men suffered untimely deaths when taking a selfie with a hand grenade. The cell phone with the selfie survived as a record. A few months later, a teenager in the Ryazan region was killed after coming into contact with live wires while attempting to climb a railway bridge to take the flawless picture.
“Unfortunately we have noted recently that the number of accidents caused by lovers of self-photography is constantly increasing”, said Yelena Alexeyeva, aide to the interior minister.
On Tuesday, representatives of the Russian Interior Ministry will hold, together with regional social and media organisations, a videoconference on the subject of selfie safety, in order to inform local law enforcers on the subject.
“The problem really exists and leads to very unfortunate consequences”.
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The ministry explained its thinking on the website before offering the collection of road sign style icons created to keep Russian citizens safe while taking photos. The booklet is complete with pictures of people taking selfies on boats, in front of an oncoming train, and standing on a rooftop, accompanied by captions like: “A selfie on railroads is a bad idea, if you value your life”, and “A selfie with animals isn’t always nice”. There are similar accounts from other countries: Last summer, a 21-year-old in Mexico posed for a selfie with a loaded pistol, which went off, killing him, and a 16-year-old fell off a seaside cliff in Italy while taking selfies on a school trip.
