Chinese live-stream daredevil killed in bridge jump as camera rolled on his final stunt
- Aspiring internet star makes fatal mistake on leap into shallow river
- Bitten by fame bug, the 28-year-old dreamed of live-streaming career
A man in eastern China was killed as he tried to impress his internet fans by jumping from a bridge into a river, the City Express reported.
Filmed by a friend, the man – identified by the surname Li – dived into the water off a bridge in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, on Saturday, and was killed when he hit stones beneath the surface.
Li, a 28-year-old chef, sought celebrity on Kwai, one of China’s most popular live-streaming app networks. He had made several hundred yuan from a short video about how people celebrated Lunar New Year in small-town China, City Express quoted his friend as saying.
“He said when he became popular he would quit his job and focus on live streaming,” said cameraman Huang, whom Li had befriended through the app on the day of the fatal dive.
Li, who had 386 followers on Kwai, asked Huang for help in developing the idea of a bridge stunt. Li then went to a bridge over one of Shaoxing’s many waterways and jumped as the camera rolled.