A selfie to impress his friends turned out dangerous for a youngster in Chennai.

An 18-year-old attempted to take a selfie on top of a train on Saturday and suffered an electric shock. He is now getting treated at the burns unit of the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital.

The accident happened around 5pm at Tambaram railway station. The injured man, identified as M Dileepan, was reportedly celebrating his birthday with his friends.

The New Indian Express reported that while playing with his friends, Dileepan wanted to climb the coach and take a selfie.

A GRP officer said that he managed to reach the top of the coach but immediately suffered an electric shock and fell on the ground. He also added that few officers had asked him to climb down from the coach.

The man suffered 50% burns and was first admitted at a local hospital and later shifted to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital.

Dileepan is the son of a railway employee who is working in the engineering department. He was living with his family in the railway colony at East Tambaram.

Dileepan wanted to take a selfie from top of the train and post it on Facebook.

The GRP officer said that the victim might have assumed that there was no power in the train as it was parked near the loading and unloading area but that was not the case, TNIE reported.

In a similar incident of selfie obsession in July, a minor fire turned into a tragic accident after an LPG cylinder at a bakery on Meenambal Road in Kodungaiyur in Chennai exploded, killing one fireman.

38 people had suffered injuries in the accident as they were standing near the bakery to take pictures, selfies and record videos of the incident.