Tiktok tragedy in Argentina
Girl († 12) dies in strangle dare
A 12-year-old girl died in a Tiktok challenge in Argentina. Milagros Soto († 12) took part in the strangle dare and strangled himself to death. It is not an isolated case: there are already 20 victims worldwide.
Published: 11 minutes ago
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Milagros Soto († 12) from Argentina died in a challenge on Tiktok.
She wanted to take part in a Tiktok challenge and lost her young life in the process. The family of Milagros Soto († 12) is in shock. “We are heartbroken,” writes Laura Luque, the girl’s aunt on Facebook.
The student was on Friday the so-called “choking or blackout challenge” (suffocation challenge) the girl’s undoing. This is a life-threatening Tiktok trend in which victims are expected to hold their breath or even choke to the point of unconsciousness. The participants, who are often alone in the daring test of courage, film themselves doing it.
That’s exactly what Milagros Soto did when asked to do so by colleagues. The student strangled herself so tightly that she couldn’t breathe. In the end her heart stopped beating. Unbelievable: As the Argentine newspaper “El Litoral” reports, the girl’s classmates were connected to a live video call during the test of courage and had to watch the girl’s agony.
Family wants to warn parents about dangerous trend
A little later, her family found the lifeless body of the twelve-year-old in her children’s room. The rescue workers who rushed to the scene could do nothing more for the girl – she was already dead. As the coroner’s autopsy report later confirmed, Soto suffocated. Her family wants to prevent others from going through the same pain and warn against this dangerous Tiktok trend. Because: The tragic case from Argentina is not an isolated case.
As Bloomberg reported in late 2022, the choke challenge has claimed the lives of at least 15 children aged 12 or younger since early 2021. Five other children aged 13 or 14 also died during this period. The case of Archie (†12) from Great Britain is particularly well known. He also tried the dangerous Tiktok Challenge. With fatal consequences: In the end he fell into a coma. He survived, but doctors pronounced him brain dead.
Tiktok tries to take action against dare
A dispute over the boy’s life began. A court finally decided in early August to turn off all life support machines. Archie’s parents fought the verdict and appealed to the European Court of Human Rights – but to no avail. On August 6, the machines were shut down.
Tiktok is reportedly trying to limit searches for the challenge videos. Yet they would still appear on the app. However, the social network has now developed a warning that appears in the case of potentially dangerous “challenges” such as the “Blackout Challenge”. “Stop. Think. Decide. Act », are the requests, which are intended to prevent users from taking part in such daring tests of courage. (dzc)