A young woman died while taking selfies for her TikTok followers at the top of a waterfall after falling and drowning while trapped between two rocks.
Moe Sa Nay, 14, was posing for photos with friends to share with her 150,000 followers on social media when she slipped on wet rocks at Sinywa Waterfall in southeastern Myanmar on July 22.
The teenager was swept downriver by the strong current and her body was trapped between two large rocks.
Unable to free himself, Nay drowned as water crashed around him in the popular tourist destination of Paung town in Mon state.
Rescue teams rushed to the scene but had difficulty recovering the young man’s body in time.
Moe Sa Nay, 14, died while taking selfies at Sinywa waterfall in southeastern Myanmar on July 22 after slipping on wet rocks and falling into the stream.
Rescuers removed the teenager’s lifeless body from between two rocks the following morning.
The young woman was swept downriver by the strong current and her body was trapped between two large rocks.
Dramatic images show volunteers and firefighters struggling to remove the girl’s lifeless body from the rocks the following morning on July 23.
They saw her tying her hands with a rope and pulling her out of the narrow hole.
Rescue worker Mon Zaw said: ‘The one who slipped made it to the bottom but died after getting trapped between the rocks.
“She died because she couldn’t get out. They tried to rescue her but they couldn’t get her out. Then aid organizations and officials arrived.”
Moe’s body was taken to Paung Township General Hospital for an autopsy.
Meanwhile, her friend, who had also slipped down the waterfall, only suffered minor injuries.
This comes after a 39-year-old beautician fell 52 metres to her death while taking a selfie from a cliff-top viewing platform in April.
Inessa Polenko had jumped over a barrier and then tripped, falling onto a beach below, according to eyewitnesses.
Paramedics rushed to the scene, but the woman died in hospital after falling from the viewing platform in Gagry, in the picturesque Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia. The viewing platform overlooks the Black Sea.
Also in April, two students from the University of Dundee drowned after falling into a waterfall “while trying to take a selfie.”
Nay, who had 150,000 followers on social media, drowned when water crashed around her in the popular tourist destination of Paung town in Mon state.
The teenager was posing for photographs with her friend, who also slipped but only suffered minor injuries.
Jitendranath Karuturi, 26, and Chanhakya Bolisetti, 22, are believed to have been taking photographs at the Linn of Tummel waterfall near Blair Atholl when they slipped and fell into the river.
They were then reportedly dragged away, which was witnessed by a friend who was with them on their hike through the Highlands beauty spot.
Their bodies were recovered by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
This comes after new research suggested taking selfies should be considered a “public health issue”.
Academics in Australia analysed scientific papers and media reports on injuries or deaths caused by selfies around the world since 2008.
They found that nearly 400 had been reported during the 13 years covered by the study.
The victims were most often female tourists aged between 20 and 30, and the two main causes of death were falls and drowning while taking a photo.
The researchers said the public should be made aware of the risks posed by selfies – an estimated 92 million of them are taken every day worldwide – and urged social media apps to install software to warn people about the dangers when they try to take a selfie.
Dr Samuel Cornell, a risk expert at the University of New South Wales in Australia, and others wrote in the paper: ‘The phenomenon of selfie-related incidents should be considered a public health issue requiring a public health response.
‘To date, little attention has been paid to preventing selfie-related incidents through behaviour change methodologies or direct messaging to users via apps.
‘While previous research has recommended “no selfie zones”, barriers and signage as ways to prevent selfie incidents, our results suggest this may not be enough.
‘It may also be prudent to send direct safety messages to social media users.’
