Bihar boy drowns in floodwater while filming TikTok video

A boy drowned in Darbhanga on July 23, while allegedly trying to shoot a video for the mobile app TikTok, along with his two other friends. The deceased was identified as Mohammad Afzal, whose body was recovered by the NDRF on Friday. Afzal, along with his friends Mohammad Qasim and Mohammad Sitare, was shooting a video, when he allegedly lost his balance and fell, and was swept away by the floodwater.

“On reaching the spot, locals saw a group of young men performing stunts and filming the same on their mobile phones for TikTok, an IOS and Android media app for creating and sharing short videos. They also started clicking pictures and performing dangerous stunts in floodwater,” a police official said.

Several videos and pictures of the incident have gone viral on social media. In the video, Qasim can be seen jumping into the floodwater from the bridge, while Afzal is seen supporting him. The third friend was filming the stunts on his mobile phone.

Soon after Qasim jumped into the water, he lost his balance. To save Qasim, Afzal immediately jumped. Qasim managed to reach the safe zone, but Afzal was drowned . Later, the third friend was also seen jumping in the water to save Afzal.

Several people present on the spot also jumped into the water and started looking for Afzal, but they could not find him.

Eyewitnesses told the Keoti police that it was Danish who climbed on to the railing of the bridge and dived into the river first, while Sitare cheered him and made the video on his phone. Moments later Afzal too, jumped off the bridge.

Following the incident, Darbhanga DM Thiyagrajan SM has appealed to the people to stay away from the floodwater and not try to take selfies or perform any dangerous stunts.

First Published: Jul 27, 2019 16:07 IST