A 53-year-old grandmother tragically lost her life last week while trying to take a selfie from the footboard of a train in Sri Lanka.
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On Wednesday, February 19, Russian tourist Olga Perminova was traveling on the Podi Menike rail line when the accident happened. According to the local Daily Mirror and Hali Ela Police, Perminova was trying to take a selfie while hanging from the train’s footboard.
While posing for the snapshot, the woman lost her balance, struck a rock, and fell from the train, suffering severe injuries. According to the outlet, she later died at Badulla Teaching Hospital.
The Grandmother Who Died Falling From a Train While Taking a Selfie was Part of a Russian Tour Group
According to the U.S. Sun, Perminova was part of a Russian tour group visiting Sri Lanka. The outlet shared an image showing the woman, dressed in pink, leaning off the side of a train shortly before the tragic accident occurred.
According to the outlet, the grandmother originally hailed from Saratov and was employed by a security company near Moscow. Reports indicate that Russian diplomats were working to arrange her return home.
According to Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror, the woman was first treated for severe head injuries by Dr. Palitha Rajapaksa and his team at Badulla Teaching Hospital but later succumbed to her wounds.
The train headed toward Ella, home to the iconic Nine Arches Bridge, traveling along a route celebrated as one of the world’s most breathtaking rail journeys.
Selfie Related Deaths Are Probably Here to Stay
A 2022 study published in the Journal of Travel Medicine highlights a sobering statistic: between 2008 and 2021, 379 people worldwide lost their lives in selfie-related incidents. This number is likely an underestimate because it mainly relies on media reports, which often miss incidents and are difficult for researchers to fully track.
Selfie-related deaths, while uncommon, reached a peak of 68 in 2019 and show little sign of disappearing. According to the Journal of Travel Medicine study, falls from heights accounted for nearly half of all selfie-related injuries, followed by transportation accidents (28%) and drownings (13%). Tourists, who made up 37% of victims, were most often killed by falls and tended to be older than local victims. In contrast, locals—primarily teenagers and young adults—were more likely to engage in risky behavior leading to fatal incidents.