German dies taking selfie at World's End
November 12, 2018
A German tourist died on Sunday after stumbling off a precipitous cliff in Sri Lanka while taking a photo of herself.
The 35-year-old woman was taking pictures with her friend when she fell off the World's End, a sheer cliff about 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) high.
The Sri Lankan army and volunteers recovered the body after a six-hour search involving air support and climbing.
World's End is located in Horton Plains National Park in central Sri Lanka and is one of the Indian Ocean island's biggest tourists attractions.
Read more: Celebrating the humble photo album in the age of the selfie
In 2015, a Dutch man on honeymoon with his wife fell off the World's End while taking a selfie and miraculously survived when a tree broke his fall 50 meters down the cliff.
A study published this year found there have 259 selfie-related deaths globally between 2011 and 2017.
The researchers recommended creating "no selfie zones" in tourist hot spots, especially at water bodies, mountain peaks and tall buildings.
In 2017, Sri Lankan authorities announced they would start arresting people taking selfies on train tracks after several deaths occurred as people tried to take the perfect picture in front of oncoming trains.