Abstract
Electrical injuries contribute a small but significant fraction to all burn trauma cases, and an even smaller proportion to those that are lethal. Accidental death rates among teenagers are the highest of all age-groups, and taking a “selfie” has been a practice that has, on rare occasions, led to such a death, often from electrocution. The case of a young man and his friend, who were electrocuted after climbing onto the roof of a parked railway wagon to take selfies is reported. One died at the scene, while the other survived. This case demonstrates that electrocution may occur with parked railway wagons, and in the young may be associated with selfie taking.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Byard RW, Hanson KA, Gilbert JD, James RA, Nadeau J, Blackbourne B, et al. Death due to electrocution in childhood and early adolescence. J Paediatr Child Health. 2003;39:46–8.
Sleet DA, Ballesteros MF, Borse NN. A review of unintentional injuries in adolescents. Annu Rev Public Health. 2010;31:195–212.
Jain MJ, Mavani KJ. A comprehensive study of worldwide selfie-related accidental mortality: a growing problem of the modern society. Int J Inj Control Saf Promot. 2017;24:544–9.
Bansal A, Garg C, Pakhare A, Gupta S. Selfies: a boon or bane? J Fam Med Prim Care. 2018;7:828–31.
Flaherty GT, Choi J. The ‘selfie’ phenomenon: reducing the risk of harm while using smartphones during international travel. J Travel Med. 2016;23:tav026.
Bhogesha S, John JR, Tripathy S. Death in a flash: selfie and the lack of self-awareness. J Travel Med. 2016;23.
Leary MR, Baumeister RF. The need to belong: desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. In: Zukauskiene R, editor. Interpersonal Development. London: Routledge; 2017. p. 57–89.
Wick R, Byard RW. Electrocution and the autopsy. In: Tsokos M, editor. Forensic pathology reviews, vol. 5. New York: Humana Press; 2009. p. 53–66.
Taylor AJ, McGwin G Jr, Valent F, Rue LW 3rd. Fatal occupational electrocutions in the United States. Inj Prev. 2002;8:306–12.
Kim E, Lee JA, Sung Y, Choi SM. Predicting selfie-posting behavior on social networking sites: an extension of theory of planned behavior. Comput Hum Behav. 2016;62:116–23.
Wick R, Gilbert JD, Simpson E, Byard RW. Fatal electrocution in adults – a 30-year study. Med Sci Law. 2006;46:166–72.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Robert Arbanas for providing technical details on the accident.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest statement
None.
Ethical approval
Case handling was according to national and international ethical standards.
Informed consent
Non-applicable.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Part of this paper was presented as a poster at The 26th International Meeting on Forensic Medicine Alpe – Adria – Pannonia, in Pula, Croatia held on 30 May – 2 June 2018.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cuculic, D., Sosa, I. “Selfie”-related electrocution. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 15, 635–637 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-018-0078-4
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-018-0078-4