A 12-year-old girl in Argentina died this week after attempting the deadly “choking challenge” first popularized on TikTok.
“We’re inconsolable [because] we gave her a lot love,” the victim’s aunt Laura Luque told Jam Press of the tragedy, which occurred on January 13 in town of Capitán Bermudez, Santa Fe Province.
Her niece Milagros Soto had been discovered dead in her home after allegedly participating within the viral “choking challenge” — one in all several fatal fads to flow into on TikTok.
Also referred to as the “blackout challenge,” this dangerous stunt encourages web clout-seekers to asphyxiate themselves until passing out. Experts have warned that the bizarre viral trend is potentially dangerous — and may end up in fainting, brain damage, seizures and worse.
Soto isn’t the primary teenager to tragically perish from the disturbing online stunt. Over the summer, UK youths Leon Brown, 14 and Archie Battersbee, 12, allegedly died because of the identical viral menace.
Soto had tried the challenge twice successfully, but did not remove the noose on the third attempt, based on Jam Press. “On the third occasion, she couldn’t remove the rope from her neck,” lamented Luque of the fatal incident, which was reportedly captured on camera.
Soto’s motivation for attempting the deadly stunt is yet unclear. Nevertheless, her aunt claimed claimed that that the scholar had received a WhatsApp message with the link to the challenge after getting bullied in school.
“I feel someone encouraged her to do it,” the bereaved relative insisted. “She suffered so much with bullying.”
Luque added, “She told us nobody wanted her in school because she was pretty with blonde hair.”
Despite her prior explanation, the little girl’s aunt said she harbored “many doubts about all the things that happened to her” as “she was a really smart girl.”
Authorities have since launched a probe to attempt to resolve the preteen’s death.
The community was devastated over little Soto’s loss.
“We support our student’s family on this terrible moment,” said a spokesperson for School 223 Tte. Gral. Pablo Ricchieri, where the victim attended. They described the deceased as “great student, friend, sweet, good, and sort.”
Meanwhile, on this side of the pond, TikTok is facing wrongful death lawsuits after two California girls fatally hung themselves after watching “blackout challenge” videos on the platform.
“TikTok has invested billions of dollars to intentionally design and develop its product to encourage, enable, and push content to teens and youngsters that defendant knows to be problematic and highly detrimental to its minor users’ mental health,” the lawsuit read.
TikTok didn’t reply to request for comment from The Post. Up to now, the streaming platform has denied responsibility for the ongoling issue, saying “choking game” injuries from young people long predate the blackout challenge.
Meanwhile, TikTok users are encouraged to flag anybody engaged within the challenge by clicking the symbol that claims “Report.”
A 12-year-old girl in Argentina died this week after attempting the deadly “choking challenge” first popularized on TikTok.
“We’re inconsolable [because] we gave her a lot love,” the victim’s aunt Laura Luque told Jam Press of the tragedy, which occurred on January 13 in town of Capitán Bermudez, Santa Fe Province.
Her niece Milagros Soto had been discovered dead in her home after allegedly participating within the viral “choking challenge” — one in all several fatal fads to flow into on TikTok.
Also referred to as the “blackout challenge,” this dangerous stunt encourages web clout-seekers to asphyxiate themselves until passing out. Experts have warned that the bizarre viral trend is potentially dangerous — and may end up in fainting, brain damage, seizures and worse.
Soto isn’t the primary teenager to tragically perish from the disturbing online stunt. Over the summer, UK youths Leon Brown, 14 and Archie Battersbee, 12, allegedly died because of the identical viral menace.
Soto had tried the challenge twice successfully, but did not remove the noose on the third attempt, based on Jam Press. “On the third occasion, she couldn’t remove the rope from her neck,” lamented Luque of the fatal incident, which was reportedly captured on camera.
Soto’s motivation for attempting the deadly stunt is yet unclear. Nevertheless, her aunt claimed claimed that that the scholar had received a WhatsApp message with the link to the challenge after getting bullied in school.
“I feel someone encouraged her to do it,” the bereaved relative insisted. “She suffered so much with bullying.”
Luque added, “She told us nobody wanted her in school because she was pretty with blonde hair.”
Despite her prior explanation, the little girl’s aunt said she harbored “many doubts about all the things that happened to her” as “she was a really smart girl.”
Authorities have since launched a probe to attempt to resolve the preteen’s death.
The community was devastated over little Soto’s loss.
“We support our student’s family on this terrible moment,” said a spokesperson for School 223 Tte. Gral. Pablo Ricchieri, where the victim attended. They described the deceased as “great student, friend, sweet, good, and sort.”
Meanwhile, on this side of the pond, TikTok is facing wrongful death lawsuits after two California girls fatally hung themselves after watching “blackout challenge” videos on the platform.
“TikTok has invested billions of dollars to intentionally design and develop its product to encourage, enable, and push content to teens and youngsters that defendant knows to be problematic and highly detrimental to its minor users’ mental health,” the lawsuit read.
TikTok didn’t reply to request for comment from The Post. Up to now, the streaming platform has denied responsibility for the ongoling issue, saying “choking game” injuries from young people long predate the blackout challenge.
Meanwhile, TikTok users are encouraged to flag anybody engaged within the challenge by clicking the symbol that claims “Report.”
