Proactive Move to Prevent Selfie Deaths in Mumbai

The Indian city of Mumbai has established 16 no-selfie zones in an effort to curb a spike in selfie-related incidents. As the Associated Press reports, the ban applies to areas that police consider particularly dangerous, including parts of the coastline that are not protected by railings. Those who enter the no-selfie zones face a fine of 1,200 rupees ($17.50), even if they don't take any photos.

According to data from the San Francisco company Priceonomics, India accounts for 19 of the 49 selfie-related deaths recorded around the world since 2014, including two recent fatalities. This month, an 18-year-old student died after trying to take a selfie on top of a rock near a dam. He fell into the water and drowned, as did another person who tried to save him. And in January, an 18-year-old woman drowned after trying to take a selfie in front of a popular tourist site in Mumbai.

"THIS IS A NEW PROBLEM FOR US."

"This is a new problem for us," Mumbai police spokesman Dhananjay Kulkarni told CNN this week. "We have identified spots in Mumbai. We want to restrain people from going there so that mishaps don't happen."

Other countries have taken measures to deter risk-takers from snapping photos of themselves in dangerous locations. Selfie sticks have been banned at some train stations in Japan, amid fears that they could cause people to lose their balance and fall onto the tracks. Last year, Russia launched an entire selfie safety campaign that warned of the most dangerous spots to take a selfie, including rooftops and busy roadways.

Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi has been a frequent selfie-taker, as well, albeit in decidedly less dangerous circumstances.

Via: http://www.theverge.com/2016/2/26/11118946/mumbai-no-selfie-zone-india-death

Man walking behind truck falls into sinkhole

A man in Queen Creek, AZ, apparently lost his life Friday when a sinkhole opened up behind his vehicle as he was walking, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

The man, whose name has not been released, disappeared between 3 and 3:30 p.m. ET in a farm field as it was being irrigated, witnesses told Queen Creek city officials. When the witnesses tried to locate the man, they found only a large hole behind his truck.

The man was walking to the back of the truck and taking off his work belt when he was swallowed, said a sheriff’s office spokesman, Detective Doug Matteson. Matteson acknowledged it was incredibly bad luck for the ground to give way just as the man was walking in the area.

“It’s kind of like getting stuck by lightning,” the detective said. Queen Creek is about 40 miles southeast of Phoenix.

Rescuers later found a body in the sinkhole that was about 50 feet wide and at least 15 feet deep but have had trouble extracting it. Water and mud were flowing through because of the irrigation, Matteson said.

Via: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/02/05/arizona-sinkhole/79909726/

Referee ‘shot dead by player he sent off’ during amateur match

Police in Argentina are searching for a footballer who is said to have shot and killed a referee after being sent off in a match played in the Córdoba province.

According to local reports, the player retrieved a gun from his bag after being shown a red card, returned to the pitch and shot 48-year-old César Flores dead.

A police source told the Efe news agency: “It all happened during the football match. We don’t know [exactly what took place], but it appears the player was angry, fetched a gun and killed him.”

Local reports said Flores was shot three times, in the head, chest and neck, while another player, Walter Zárate, was injured, but is understood to be out of danger.

Authorities in Argentina continue to struggle with violence in football. In June last year a match between Ferro and Tiro Federal was abandoned after a played punched a referee unconscious after being shown a yellow card.

Last month, five players were sent off during a friendly between River Plate and Boca Juniors. The referee Patricio Loustau booked nine others during the game.

Via: http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/feb/16/referee-shot-dead-by-player-sent-off-argentina?CMP=share_btn_tw

First Person Killed By Meteorite

Indian authorities say a falling object that killed a bus driver and injured three others was a meteorite. If proven, it would be the first such death in recorded history.

Experts said other explanations were possible for the incident Saturday in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

The impact of the object left a large crater in the ground and shattered window panes in a nearby building, killing the driver who was walking past.

Images in local media showed a blueish rock, which Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram described as a "meteorite" -- although scientists say this has not yet been proved.

"A meteorite fell at a private engineering college... and claimed the life of a college bus driver," said the chief minister in a statement late Sunday expressing "shock" at the news.

S. P. Rajaguru, assistant professor at the Indian Astrophysics Institute in Bangalore, said the rock could be a meteorite but further tests were needed.

If proven it would be the first meteorite death of a human in recorded history, he said.

"Most of the meteors never reach the earth surface as they completely vaporise in the atmosphere," he told AFP by phone.

"Hitting the Earth surface is very rare and there have been no deaths in recorded history."

Rajaguru said the missile could be debris from a rocket or a space shuttle.

Meteors are particles of dust and rock that usually burn up as they pass through the Earth's atmosphere.

Those that do not burn up completely, surviving the fall to Earth, are known as meteorites.

Via: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/meteorite-kills-man-in-south-india-authorities-say/ar-BBpfd6B?li=BBnb7Kz