Girl, 14, falls to her death from the top of waterfall while taking selfies
Topics: News, Social Media, TikTok, World News, Travel, Phones
Gerrard Kaonga
Featured Image Credit: Viral Press
Topics: News, Social Media, TikTok, World News, Travel, Phones
A 14-year-old girl died after getting caught between rocks off a waterfall after slipping while taking selfies.
The teenager was identified as Moe Sa Nay and was at the Sinywa Waterfall in the town of Paung, Myanmar, with her friend on July 22 before she slipped.
After falling she was quickly swept away by the strong downstream and got trapped between two large boulders.
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Unable to free herself, it is believed that the teenager drowned.
Her friend is also thought to have slipped but didn’t get trapped and therefore survived with only minor injuries.
Moe was reportedly taking the selfies for her TikTok page and the 150,000 followers on her social media pages.
Rescue efforts were attempted but footage taken from the scene shows how difficult it was for them to recover Moe’s body.
One of the rescue workers spoke about the tough situation.
Rescuer Mon Zaw said: “The one who slipped reached the bottom, but died after getting stuck between the rocks.
“She died because she couldn't get out. They tried to rescue her but couldn't pull her out. Then the aid organizations and officials came.”
Video footage of the rescue attempt showed just how fast the waterfall water was flowing as well as the difficulty of finding Moe's body and safely retrieving it. They were spotted tying her hands with rope in hopes of yanking her out.
When they successfully got her out, the teenager's body was taken to the Paung Township General Hospital for a post-mortem examination.
People getting injured or dying as a result of trying to take a picture has become more common.
In 2022, a tourist fell into the crater of Mount Vesuvius after apparently taking a selfie on a forbidden route.
Italian media reported at the time that the then 23-year-old and his family from the US ignored signage and walked on an out-of-bounds path.
While on this prohibited route, the man attempted to take a selfie at the summit of the volcano, but things quickly took a turn for the worst.
As the man was standing at the summit of the iconic Naples landmark he dropped his phone, and ultimately fell as he tried to retrieve it.
Luckily for the tourist, it didn’t prove fatal and he walked away with only a series of cuts and bruises to his arms and back.