A 33-year-old man plunged nearly 40 feet to his death after he lost his balance while taking a selfie in Brazil.

Logistics analyst Igor de Oliveira Rodrigues Dias fell from a rock overlooking Joatinga Beach in Rio de Janeiro on the afternoon of 10th November.

He was trying to take a selfie when he fell from a height of around 12 metres (39 feet), local media reported.

He was killed when he hit his head on another rock below.

His devastated mother, 60-year-old Luiza Rodrigues, 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 celebration on the beach.

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

Firefighters were dispatched to the scene, but they were only able to pronounce Igor dead. They had to use a helicopter to remove his body from the spot.

Igor was a graduate of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and had two post-graduate qualifications.

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 neighbourhood on 12th November.

His grieving father, Jonas Dias, told local media: “He died before me, and I don’t accept that. I think that every son has to bury his father, and not the father bury his son. It was a tragedy.”

Rio de Janeiro Fire Department spokesman Fabio Contreiras told local media: “We always have to be safe, never get close to the edge of the rocks, ask someone to take a picture, if necessary.”

A Spanish study published last year showed that between January 2008 and July 2021, one person died every 13 days in an accident while trying to capture a landscape.

Brazil registered the fifth-highest number of incidents.

Contreiras continued: “Always seek safety first. Don’t risk your life for likes.”