Four drown in Indian reservoir after selfie attempt

Study finds India has world's highest number of recorded selfie deaths

Tamil Nadu is home to many dams, that are often popular tourist destinations. Google Street View

A newlywed bride and three members of her family have drowned after trying to take a selfie, police in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu said on Monday.

They were among a group of six who held hands and stood waste deep in water near Pambar dam before one of them slipped, pulling the others in.

The Hindu newspaper reported that the married couple were visiting relatives in the area and had gone to the dam with family.

The woman’s husband was able to save his sister but the others drowned. The bodies were later recovered by the police.

India has the highest number of recorded selfie deaths in the world, accounting for about half of the 259 reported fatalities between 2011 and 2017, according to a study by the US National Library of Medicine.

Russia and Pakistan are in second and third place.

Some Indian cities, including Mumbai, have been putting up "no selfie" signs to keep smartphone users safe in dangerous areas.

In May, three teens taking photos on a railway track in Haryana state jumped on to a second track when they saw an approaching train, not realising another train was coming, and were crushed to death.

In 2017 three students taking selfies on a railway bridge in the southern state of Karnataka were killed after being hit by an express train.

The same year, a man died in Odisha after an elephant wrapped its trunk around him and crushed him to death as he tried to take a selfie with the animal.