A ten-year-old girl died of asphyxiation in Parlermo, Italy, after participating in a so-called blackout challenge on the social network TikTok.
The girl, Antonella, had put a belt around her neck with the aim of staying without breathing as long as possible, while capturing the moment with her mobile phone.
It was Antonella’s five-year-old sister who discovered her unconscious body on Wednesday evening. Her parents immediately took her to the children's hospital in Palermo, but she did not survive.
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The parents told the daily La Repubblica that it was another of Antonella's sisters, aged nine, who explained to them what had happened: "Antonella was playing the game of asphyxiation."
"My daughter, my little Antonella, who dies because of an extreme game on TikTok: how can I accept it," said Angelo Sicomero, who together with his wife decided to donate Antonella's organs so that "other children can live thanks to her."
The Public Prosecutor's Office in Palermo has opened an investigation for incitement to suicide. The girl's mobile phone was seized by the investigators, who will have to determine whether Antonella was live with other participants, whether someone had invited her to take part in the challenge or whether she was making the video for a friend or acquaintance.
The Brussels Times
