Ashok Bharti had been trying to take the perfect selfie with an elephant in India when the animal turned on him and killed him. Forest officials from Odisha’s Sundargarh county claimed that the elephant had been agitated before.
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“We were trying to drive away the tusker [elephant] with the help of local people. But suddenly a person present there among locals, went nearer to the tusker and tried to take a photograph of the elephant on his mobile phone. He was also trying to take a selfie with the elephant when it turned on him.”
These news fit with a current trend in India where people put themselves in danger over the perfect selfie, making it the number-one country where people have died because of this reason. Since 2014, 49 people have died over selfies, with 19 of these deaths taking place in India. The trend has become so pervasive that Mumbai and other cities have declared several areas as no selfie zones. These places are areas where authorities believe tourists and residents might be at risk, like coastlines, or places near cliffs that have no handrails and barriers.
Ashok Bharti was taken to Roukerla Hospital by forest officials and locals after being attacked by the elephant, where he was shortly pronounced dead by doctors. Forest JK Mohanty will compensate Bharti’s family due to the incident.
