How did Sofia Cheung die? Influencer's waterfall selfie turns fatal
An Instagram influencer fell tragically to her death after she slipped from the edge of a waterfall while taking a selfie with friends over the weekend. The incident took place at Tsing Dai stream near Yuen Long, Hong Kong on Saturday, July 10, where Sofia Cheung, 32, plummeted 16 feet off the edge.
She and three friends embarked on a trip to Ha Pak Lai park around 11 am on the ill-fated day before the daredevil influencer decided to take selfies at the edge of a waterfall at the park’s Pineapple Mountain site, which is a favorite among hikers, especially around sunset. Losing her footing, Cheung fell 16 feet into the pool below.
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Man plummets 50ft down waterfall while attempting to take a selfie
Her horrified friends dialed emergency services who promptly arrived at the scene but could not save her. She was rushed to a Hong Kong hospital where she was declared dead on arrival. Some of the other Instagram influencers who have lost their lives in recent months include Odalis Santos Mena, Kristina Zhuravleva and Josi Maria.
Who was Sofia Cheung?
Cheug, who had 6,000 followers on Instagram, has garnered over 17,000 followers after the story of her death hit the news circuit. Her passions are listed as hiking, kayaking, exploring, outdoor activities, and photography. Her biography says "life should be fun not dumb” and the entire social media account is swimming in images of her standing over other perilous drops.
The last photo she ever posted was on July 8, which shows her posing on the beach with a surfboard. She captioned the picture, "Better days are coming. They are called: Saturday and Sunday." A number of her fans have commented "RIP" in the comments section of the post. One bereaved fan wrote, “RIP don’t wanna believe this happened to you.” Another lamented, “thought better days are coming when Saturday and Sunday? will gonna miss your chat every day. I love you always. rest in peace my pretty sofi.” A third noted, "“I thought better days are coming with Saturday and Sunday? I will miss your chat every day. I love you always. Rest in peace my pretty Sofia.”
Surge of selfie-related mishaps
There has been a surge of selfie-related mishaps as an increasing number of daredevils attempt dangerous poses for the sake of content for the social media pages. In March 2020, an Indian man lost his footing, while trying to capture the perfect selfie, The man slipped and fell 50 feet down a jagged waterfall. The incident occurred when the youth accidentally plunged from a slippery edge and broke his pelvis. He was immediately rushed to a hospital nearby. A fellow visitor captured the footage of the fall on his cell phone which shows the man plummeting to the rocks underneath.
A 16-year-old girl plunged to her death from the 17th floor of a popular tower in Dubai while trying to take a selfie on October 26. The Afghan teenager is believed to have been trying to take a selfie from the balcony of her parents’ apartment in Kharbash Tower, with the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, in the backdrop when she lost her balance and fell. Colonel Faisal Al Qasim, director of Security Media in Dubai Police, said: “She was standing on a chair in the balcony and trying to take a selfie when she lost control and fell to [her] death."