In UP, teens dive into river for TikTok, one drowns

GORAKHPUR: Two 19-yearold boys who probably didn’t know how to swim jumped off a crowded bridge into a river in Deoria to shoot a video of their daredevilry for TikTok on Monday evening, but one of them drowned in the process.
The incident took place at Nadawar Ghat overlooking Majhna Nala — a tributary of Choti Gandak river — under Kotwali thana.
Police said Danish was rescued by divers, but his friend Ashique could not be traced despite a prolonged search till late in the night. “ Divers have been pressed into service to fish out the teenager’s body,” said Kotwali SHO Rajendra Singh.
Danish, a native of Hyderabad, had come to visit his relatives in Deoria and became friends with Ashique who drove an auto-rickshaw for a living, SHO Singh said.
According to reports, the tragedy occurred when the two had set out for a evening walk. On reaching Nadawar bridge, they saw a group of youths performing stunts and filming the same on their mobile phones for TikTok, an iOS and Android media app for creating and sharing short videos.
Eyewitnesses told police that it was Danish who climbed on the railing of the bridge and dived into the river first while Ashique cheerd him and made the video on his phone.
Moments later he too jumped off the bridge.