At least four people have died in Alabama while attempting a “boat challenge” that’s circulating on TikTok.
In the viral stunt, people are filmed jumping and flipping off of speeding boats into the water — sometimes set to the popular “Oh No” TikTok sound effect.
But Capt. Jim Dennis of the Childersburg Rescue Squad told NBC News that at least four people in Alabama have broken their necks and died attempting this challenge.
“The four that we responded to when they jumped out of the boat, they literally broke their neck and, you know, basically an instant death,” Dennis said.
Although the challenge has been circulating on social media since 2020, the four deaths in Alabama have occurred in the last six months.
TikTok has not removed the videos, but does now place a warning on them, cautioning “Participating in this activity could result in you or others getting hurt.”
“You can wind up with broken bones, a broken neck, or you could end up running into the propeller of your own boat or another boat could run over you and that would cause lots of damage if not death,” Gail Kulp, executive director of the Sea Tow Foundation, told NBC News.
“Hitting the water from a moving boat is like hitting concrete from jumping multiple stories stories up,” Kulp said. She pointed out that if the boat is going fast enough to create a wake, then it’s going too fast for someone to safely jump off of it into the water.
This is not the first time a TikTok challenge has resulted in fatalities or injuries.
In April, a 13-year-old boy in Ohio died after attempting the “Benadryl challenge,” where someone drinks a large amount of the allergy drug to get high.
And for the aptly named “skullbreaker challenge,” teens would jump in the air — but kick the legs out from underneath one participant, which resulted in injuries and deaths.
“I don’t think TikTok is the demon,” Olivia, then a high school junior who suffered a concussion from the “skullbreaker challenge,” told PEOPLE, “but the way we used it needed to be changed.”
And although TikTok has placed a warning on the “boat challenge” videos, the social media platform told NBC News in a statement that “it’s not accurate to characterize or report this as a TikTok challenge.”
TikTok added the company “can’t comment on something that isn’t a trend on our platform.”
The social network does have a section in its community guidelines devoted to “dangerous activities and challenges,” pointing out that “We do not allow showing or promoting dangerous activities and challenges. This includes dares, games, tricks, inappropriate use of dangerous tools, eating substances that are harmful to one’s health, or similar activities that may lead to significant physical harm.”
