New Delhi - At least three men died and five were feared
drowned after their boat capsized in a river in central India while
they were taking selfies and videos for social media, police said on Monday.
The accident occurred on Sunday evening when a group of 10 men,
between 21 and 28 years, were out on a fishing boat on the Venna river
near the city of Nagpur.
Area police chief Chandrashekhar Bahadure said the boatman rescued
two men and three bodies were fished out Monday afternoon.
"During initial investigations, we found that the group was busy
taking videos and selfies on the boat that is suspected to have
caused the tragedy," Bahadure said.
"Survivors say the boat lost balance and overturned when a number of
men came to one side to pose for either selfies or videos," he added.
"The men had also posted a video on Facebook minutes before the boat
tipped over," he said.
Divers and national disaster response force personnel were assisting
in the rescue but it was unlikely there would be survivors, police
said.
India has had the highest number of selfie-related deaths, according
to new research.
A study by Carnegie Mellon University found that between March 2014
and September 2016, 60 percent of the 127 "selfie deaths" across the
world, occurred in India.
Last year, police in Mumbai created 16 "no-selfie zones" after a
university student fell into the sea and drowned while taking a photo
of herself with her phone.