'Extreme selfie craze' kills 17-year-old schoolboy in Russia

(Image for representational purposes only)

London: In yet another tragic instance of the growing “extreme selfie craze” among teenagers, a 17-year-old schoolboy fell off from the roof-top of a nine-storey building while trying to click an “extreme selfie” in Russia last week, media reports said.

The 17-year-old student climbed the building in Vologda city with a friend to capture a stunning selfie while dangling off the towering structure, Mirror.co.uk reported on Wednesday.

Once up, he approached the edge in fading light and lowered himself over it with a rope and a smartphone.

Suddenly, the rope gave way and he fell down nine floors, suffering massive injuries.

The schoolboy, who had posted several selfies in high-risk situations under the handle “drewsssik” on Instagram, was rushed to a nearby hospital where he died after a few hours, the report added.

His other “extreme selfies” include posing on rooftops and balancing on steel girders on the top of buildings.

One of the boy's last Instagram photos shows him hanging on the wall of a building with just one hand. According to reports, he always ignored friends' warnings.

An investigation has been launched into his death.

Russia released a safe selfie guide for people this year after a hundred people were injured and a handful died while taking selfies. 

According to latest media reports, selfies are officially more deadly than sharks.

Twelve people have died so far this year in their quest to get that perfect selfie, compared to eight killed in shark attacks.

The latest victim of the selfie craze was a 66-year-old Japanese tourist who died after falling down stairs while attempting to take a picture of himself at the Taj Mahal.

In a recent incident, a Singaporean man died after falling into the sea off a cliff while attempting to take a selfie on an island in Bali.