I would think the reason that those deaths are mentioned here is that the selfies were taken using hardware technology which is what this area of the forum is about.
The reason for posting here is not in question. I am just saying if one reads the entire article, the real news story is that dozens and dozens died, not just those 18 during that storm period. And 2000 die of lightning strikes in India - every year! It's 26 people on average for here in the US. Even if you consider that India has 4 times the number of people, 2000 is way out of proportion. That's the news story, IMO.
I read the article and agree. It reminds me of the story where people were trampling wildflowers to take selfies with them. Sure, people probably went to see such things before selfies but I believe in both case some of these people were there primarily for the photo op. https://www.cntraveler.com/story/california-super-bloom-trampled-for-selfies
The difference is, in the past, it was the scenery, view, or the actual attraction that was the photo subject. Today, it seems those things are just for background material.