Russian government has launched a campaign urging its citizens to be careful when shooting "dangerous" selfies. Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, on Tuesday, issued a pamphlet describing basic rules for taking a selfie. People warn against taking selfies with weapons and dangerous animals.
"A cool selfie could cost you your life," the interior ministry said, according to Izvestia newspaper. "Health and life is not worth millions of likes on social networking," the ministry said in pamphlet.
"We want to remind citizens that the pursuit of "likes" in social networks can lead to death," said Elena Alekseeva, Assistant Minister of Internal Affairs, during the campaign launch.
"The progress is not stalling and along with all of its benefits it also brings new challenges and threats. We have prepared the memo in order to remind our citizens how to behave so that a selfie does not become one's last," Alekseeva said, according to Russia Today.
The safe selfies campaign is a response to a spate of tragic accidents in which young Russians were serious injured or killed while shooting selfies, according to BBC. A boy was electrocuted as he was taking a selfie on top of a train, and young woman in Moscow accidentally shot herself in the head when posing with a pistol loaded with rubber ammunition.
"Unfortunately we have noted recently that the number of accidents caused by lovers of self-photography is constantly increasing. Since the beginning of the year we are talking about some hundred cases of injuries for sure. The problem really exists and leads to very unfortunate consequences," Alekseeva further stated, according to AFP.
Police officials said that over 100 people had been injured when taking a selfie and at least 10 such incidents had ended in death.
