Man rushes 40ft to his death after leaning over cliff for selfie

A man who attempted to take a selfie on a cliff overlooking a Brazilian beach died nearly 40ft.

Igor de Oliveira Rodrigues Dias, logistics analyst, fell from a rock overlooking Joatinga beach in Rio de Janeiro on the afternoon of Thursday, November 10.

Dias, 33, was trying to take a selfie when he fell and hit his head on another rock below.

Firefighters were dispatched to the scene, but Dias was already dead when they arrived. They had to use a helicopter to remove his body from the scene.

His mother, Luiza Rodrigues, 60, told local media: “In the morning he had signed a contract with a company he wanted to work for. So he went out with a friend to have a little party on the beach.

“I spoke to him, asked where he was. He said he was on the beach. But I don’t know why he decided to climb that high rock.”

Dias was a graduate of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and had two postgraduate degrees.

Luiza told local media: “He was an only child, he studied, he had a whole life ahead of him.”

He was buried in the Caju district on Saturday November 12.

His father, Jonas Dias, said, “He died before me, and I don’t accept that. I think every son should bury his father, not the father bury his son. It was a tragedy.”

Rio de Janeiro Fire Department spokesman Fabio Contreiras said: “We must always be safe, never approach the edge of the rocks, ask someone to take a picture, if necessary.”