Tourist Hit by Oncoming Train While Taking Selfie on Tracks

A tourist, who attempted to take a selfie in front of a moving train, was brutally hit and knocked to the ground by the oncoming locomotive.

The 55-year-old tourist, who was reportedly named Lui, was knocked over by the approaching locomotive as she posed for a selfie on the tracks of Alishan Forest Railway train in Chiayi, Taiwan, on December 14.

In footage, that is circulating on social media, the woman is seen trying to take a photo of herself with the train in the backdrop as she stands close to the tracks.

Woman brutally hit by a moving train while trying to take a selfie.👩‍🦳💀🚆 (Train selfie has caused a lot of ☠️😈) pic.twitter.com/XZGvKZcH3T

— Tactical Errors (@TacticalErrorsM) December 15, 2024

The tourist is seen shifting her position, trying to capture the perfect angle for her selfie.

The train driver sounds the horn urgently, hoping to catch her attention as she stands far too close to the train tracks. But the tourist remains fixated on capturing her selfie.

In a split second, the train hurtles towards the woman. The edge of the train grazes Lui’s shoulder, knocking her off balance and sending her crashing to the ground.

The woman is then seen crumpled in pain on the ground next to the train tracks in the footage. Immediately afterward, the operator is filmed bringing the train to an immediate halt to check on the tourist’s condition as onlookers rush to check on her.

According to local media reports, Lui miraculously survived the collision and only sustained an injury to her left foot from the collision.

A police investigation also revealed that the group had violated regulations by entering the track area. Authorities have reportedly urged the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency to revoke Lui’s travel agency’s access to the Alishan area via the Mianyue Line for a year. Lui will also reportedly face a fine for her actions.

The incident comes a week after PetaPixel reported on a tourist was dragged from a train while filming a selfie video after dangling out of a carriage window to get the perfect shot. Meanwhile, in May, a model died after her clothes became tangled in a passing high-speed train during a photo shoot near the tracks.

According to Operation Lifesaver, Inc., a non-profit organization and nationally-recognized leader of rail safety education, hundreds of people are injured or killed while trespassing on railroad property each year in the U.S.

Operation Lifesaver urges professional photographers in the U.S. to refrain from taking photos of high school seniors, wedding parties, and other subjects on train tracks or trestles.

However, the non-profit does offer advice to professional photographers who are considering a photo shoot near the train tracks. This includes never assuming that train tracks are abandoned or inactive and acknowledging that an optical illusion makes it hard to determine a train’s distance as well as its speed.