It was supposed to be the perfect pose in an abandoned mountain village. But during the campaign, a fitness influencer lost his footing and fell. The tragic cases are increasing.
Roghudi Vecchio – In his videos on Instagram he lifts weights, promotes protein powder or flexes his muscles for the camera. Giorgi Janelidze, a fitness influencer, had a tragic accident while filming such a promotional video in Italy. The 23-year-old's fatal fate is not an isolated case.
Daring action is the undoing of fitness influencers
In the online world, Janelidze was known for his numerous photos and clips, which were often taken in nature. However, such a production was his downfall. According to Greek media outlet
Ethnos,
Janelidze was traveling in Roghudi Vecchio, an abandoned mountain village in Italy's Calabria region. During filming, he is said to have climbed onto the balcony of a ruin without a railing and fell into a deep ravine. A 20-year-old from Bavaria also lost her footing while visiting Italy; she drowned in Lake Iseo and her body is still being searched.
A companion of the young man, who was born in Georgia and lives in Greece, confirmed the accident. Despite the rapid intervention of rescue workers, who had to be deployed by helicopter due to the depth of the gorge, Janelidze could not be revived. The ancient mountain village, which was abandoned after several floods in the 1970s, is 527 meters above sea level and is popular with tourists as a lost place.
Study shows: Selfies more deadly than shark attacks - falling into the depths is the most common cause of death
Similar incidents have occurred again and again in recent years. In 2018, a German tourist died in Sri Lanka when she tried to capture the perfect moment on a cliff edge and fell. Earlier this year, a 39-year-old woman lost her footing while hiking through a national park in the US while trying to take a selfie of herself and her husband. She also fell to her death. A 14-year-old was posing with friends on the beach last year when a strong current swept her away and submerged her underwater. She later died in hospital as a result.
A study by India's
Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care
shows that posing for selfies caused at least 259 deaths worldwide between October 2011 and November 2017. This makes selfies a greater risk of death than shark attacks. In the comparable period from 2011 to 2017, 50 people died from shark attacks, which is five times fewer than from selfie shots, as the online travel magazine
Travelbook
reports.
Almost half of the deaths recorded in the study came from India. This was followed by people from Russia with 16 deaths and Americans with 14 deaths. The most common reason for death among selfie victims was falling into the depths. However, in some cases in the United States, a fatal shot was fired while posing with a weapon. (rku)