A Romanian teenager has died after touching a live wire on top of a train while attempting to take the “ultimate selfie.
Published : 14 May 2015, 11:50 PM
Anna Ursu, 18, and one of her friends went to a train station in Lasi in northeast Romania to take a 'special selfie' she intended to post on Facebook, London-based Daily Mail reported.
She burst into flames after her leg touched an electric wire, sending 27,000 volts through her body, a witness said.
Her 17-year-old friend was reportedly blown off the train by the force of the current.
They were rushed to a hospital but Ursu, who suffered 50 percent burns, died.
Anisia Iliescu, a spokesperson for Bucharest Burns Hospital where the teenager was later transferred, told reporters: “Her whole body was burned.”
A passer-by, who warned the girls to avoid the electric cables overhead, said he had heard the loud bang as Ursu caught fire, the Independent reported.
The 17-year-old girl, currently recovering in hospital, told investigators that they wanted to get the 'ultimate selfie' and had not thought of the danger.
A hospital spokesman said although the girl had not directly touched the wire, she came into contact with its electrical field, which was just as deadly.
‘Selfie’ – a self-portrait usually on a smartphone or webcam – became popular particularly among the young in recent times.
Oxford Dictionaries named ‘selfie’ as the word of the year in 2013.
In January, three Indian college students were killed by a train after they attempted to take selfies in front of the moving train.
Last year, a Polish couple died in Portugal after falling down a cliff while taking a selfie.
A Russian teenager also died when she climbed a railway bridge for a selfie.