Diksia.com - Four people in Alabama, US, died while attempting to enter the viral Boat Challenge on TikTok.
People were filmed jumping into the water from a fast-moving boat.
TikTok Challenge video is also edited with Oh No TikTok sound effect.
Captain Jim Dennis of the Childersburg Rescue Force told NBC News the four men broke their necks attempting the Boat Challenge and died.
“Four people who jumped out of the boat broke their necks and you know it’s like an instant death,” Dennis said.
“I think that when these people are filmed on camera, they’re more likely to do something stupid to show their friends on social media,” he added.
Quoted by People, TikTok is known not to have deleted the video.
However, the company issued a warning to users.
“Participating in these activities could result in injury to you or others,” Gail Kulp, executive director of the Sea Tow Foundation, told NBC News.
“You could break a bone or a broken neck, or you could hit the propeller of your own boat or another boat, and that would cause a lot of damage, if not death,” he said.
“Hiting into the water from a moving boat is like hitting concrete,” Kulp said.
He pointed out that a speeding boat would create waves.
That means it’s too fast for a person to safely jump into the water.
This isn’t the first time TikTok challenges have resulted in deaths or injuries.
In fact, the Boat Challenge has been circulating on social media since 2020.
In April 2023, a 13-year-old boy in Ohio died after attempting the “Benadryl Challenge,” in which a person takes large amounts of allergy medication to get high.
Although TikTok flagged the “Boat Challenge” video with a warning, social media platform NBC News told that it is “incorrect to describe or report this as a TikTok challenge.”
