A 32-year-old selfie lover slipped and died at a scenic waterfall while taking spectacular photos over a steep drop.
The incident took place at Tsing Dai stream near the district of Yuen Long in Hong Kong.
Sophia Cheung, who was an active social media user, had previously shared many images of herself on cliff edges and mountaintops overlooking steep drops.
She set off with three friends to the scenic nature area of Ha Pak Lai at around 11 a.m. on Saturday.
At about 5 p.m., Cheung was taking photos at the waterfall at Tsing Dai stream and lost her footing, tumbling into the 15-foot (5-meter) deep pool below.
Her friends called emergency services and first responders arrived on the scene.
The young woman was taken to the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital in Chai Wan in Hong Kong where she was declared dead on arrival.
The area of Ha Pak Lai, situated near Pineapple Mountain, is a popular spot for hikers, especially at sunset.
Cheung’s Instagram page, which had over 6,000 followers at the time of her death, lists hiking, kayaking, exploring, outdoor activities, and photography as her main passions.
Many of the images she shared with her online followers showed her seemingly standing over perilous drops.
She said in her biography: “Life should be fun not dumb.”
Her last photo, posted on July 9, was flooded with messages by netizens.
She accompanied a photo of her kneeling on the shore with a yellow boogie board with the message: “Better days are coming. They are called Saturday and Sunday!”
Daring feats and dire consequences are not new to the world of influencers. In 2018 two popular bloggers in a duo called High On Life, with over a million followers on Instagram, fell to their deaths along with one other woman. The group was known for their fearless adventures.
A stuntman in China named Wu Yongning, who was known for climbing rooftops, fell to his death in 2017 while performing a stunt on a 62-story building. His most famous photos are of himself dangling from high rooftops by his fingers or casually perched on high ledges.
Taiwanese social media star the “bikini climber” fell while hiking in Yushan National Park in 2019. The woman, Gigi Wu, was known for hiking solo to high places and changing into a bikini at the top to take pictures. She fell 65 feet into a ravine where she broke her leg, rendering her immobile at the bottom where she froze to death before emergency services could reach her.
(Edited by Nzinga Aku Temu and Kristen Butler)
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