- Teenagers in Indonesia have been performing dangerous acts as part of a deadly TikTok challenge.
- At least two people have died after jumping in front of trucks in the “angel of death” challenge.
- Videos on the platform seen by Insider also showed people performing stunts on their motorcycles.
Teenagers in Indonesia have been jumping in front of moving trucks while taking part in a deadly TikTok challenge that has already killed at least two people, according to local reports.
Last Friday, an 18-year-old in the city of Tangerang died on the spot when he was run over by a truck while trying to create social media content, Coconuts Jakarta reported.
Tangerang’s official Twitter account tweeted a blurred-out video of the incident, writing in Bahasa Indonesia that the “reckless action of teenagers to stop the truck” had killed a person.
Local police said as many as 14 minors in the city were detained on the same day on suspicion of carrying out similar activities, according to Indonesia’s Sindo News.
Per the outlet, the youths are believed to have attempted the death-defying stunts for a local TikTok challenge called “prank malaikat maut,” which loosely translates to “the angel of death prank.”
When Insider did a search for the term on TikTok, numerous videos were found of people filming themselves while performing dangerous acts, many of which were done on motorcycles or scooters.
One video, for instance, showed a helmetless youth riding his scooter dangerously close to another rider while racing down a city street. Another video showed a rider dodging vehicles while speeding through a traffic jam.
Many of these videos came with a disclaimer stating: “Participating in this activity could result in you or others getting hurt.”
The events in Tangerang took place just a day after two teenage boys in the city of Bandung reportedly jumped in front of a truck, per Coconuts Jakarta. Per the outlet, the truck struck one of the boys, a 14-year-old, leaving him with a fractured skull and shattered teeth.
Last July, a teenager died while attempting to carry out the same challenge in Bekasi city, per CNN Indonesia.
Numerous dangerous challenges regularly pop up on TikTok, resulting in severe injuries or deaths. As Insider previously reported, the platform has struggled in the past to remove dangerous challenges from the app.
Last month, a Pennsylvania mother sued TikTok and its parent company ByteDance for allegedly recommending a choking challenge to her daughter. The 10-year-old girl died after taking part in the deadly dare.
