Four people dead after attempting TikTok boat challenge

Authorities are warning against TikTok’s dangerous boat challenge after four people from Alabama died while attempting it.

At least four people, including a father, have tragically passed away after taking part in TikTok‘s deadly boat challenge, Alabama authorities said.

The participants of the life-threatening trend reportedly jumped or flipped off the backs of speeding boats, only to break their necks when they hit the water at speed and drown.

Captain Jim Dennis of the Childersburg Rescue Squad in Alabama told WBMA: “Last six months we have had four drownings that were easily avoidable. They were doing a TikTok challenge.

“It’s where you get in a boat going at a high rate of speed, you jump off the side of the boat, don’t dive, you’re jumping off feet first and you just kinda lean into the water.”

Unsplash: Solen Feyissa

The first victim died in February this year, after he hurled himself into the Coosa River while his wife and their children watched from inside the boat. “Unfortunately, she recorded his death,” Dennis said.

Since that first death, three others met a similar fate. “I think people, if they’re being filmed on camera, I think they’re more likely to do something stupid because they want to show off in front of their friends for social media,” Captain Dennis told ABC 7.

Some TikTok videos using the hashtag #boatjumping now carry a warning, which reads: “Participating in this activity could result in you or others getting hurt.”

Alabama police are urging anyone not to take part in the dangerous boat challenge. “Do not do it,” Dennis said. “It’s not worth your life.”

This is not the first time a TikTok trend has claimed lives, after a 16-year-old girl died while trying the viral ‘scarf game,’ which is a variation of the deadly Blackout Challenge.