The past met the present in a tragic way for this young Irish tourist. 

A man taking a selfie fell to his death from a train that was used in World War II to transport Japanese soldiers. 

Patrick Ward, 45, an Irish tourist, was taking a selfie from the moving train traveling from Bangkok, Thailand to Kanchanaburi, Thailand with other tourists. He accidentally fell to his death from Thailand’s famous tourist attraction “Death Railway.” He tumbled down a steep slope from an open cabin door.

Ward opened the train door to take a selfie and slipped as the train made a sharp turn. 

Other tourists on the train were taking photos and videos of the spectacular scenery when the shocking event happened. Many captured Ward’s final moments on their cell phones. A video clip showing him falling unto a cliff went viral on social media.

The train’s driver stopped the train and a rescue team rushed to the area.

Ward was found with a broken arm and neck. The rescuers attempted to resuscitate him for about thirty minutes, but couldn’t. 

Police confirmed the death, and said that at about 11:45 am a tourist had fallen from a train along the railway bridge and was found with a broken neck, not breathing.

The Thai-Burma Railway is known as the “Death Railway.” It was built during the early 1940s during World War II, by prisoners and civilians captured by the Japanese.

The train was used to move soldiers and weapons from Japan’s Burma military camps during the war. An estimated 180,000-250,000 civilians and 60,000 prisoners of war took part in the railroad’s construction. Tens of thousands of workers were said to have lost their lives during the wartime construction.