Livestreamer dies after filming himself drinking on social media

His last video of drinking alcohol during livestream is going viral

Shweta Sharma
Tuesday 23 May 2023 10:11 BST
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Chinese Douyin user drinking alcohol during livestream
Chinese Douyin user drinking alcohol during livestream (Screengrab/@Byron_Wan)

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A Chinese livestreamer was found dead in his house hours after he livestreamed himself drinking an excessive amount of alcohol on the Chinese TikTok-like app Douyin.

The Douyin user named Brother Three Thousand drank at least seven bottles of alcohol on 16 May in his last livestream before he was found dead.

The man, who was identified as Wang Moufeng by local media, was a 34-year-old resident of Lianyungang, in Jiangsu province.

A video going viral on social media showed him drinking several bottles of baijiu spirits, a traditional clear grain spirit that contains up to 60 per cent of alcohol. The man was seen pouring out a small amount on the table and lighting it on fire to prove that it was indeed alcohol and not any other liquid.

He was found dead after 12 hours of the live broadcast, Chinese websites reported, adding that a funeral for him was held on Saturday.

A man named Zhao, who knew about the incident, told Shangyou News: “When his family found him, he was already gone, he didn’t even get a chance for emergency treatment.”

The incident was widely discussed on Chinese social media, with people debating the safety regulations of apps that have billions of users.

Mr Wang, who had 44,000 followers, was earlier penalised for posting drinking videos.

The app prohibits content that shows drinking, with penalties including a ban following warnings.

He had previously shared similar videos of drinking Chinese alcohol. On 16 May he took on a challenge in which users competed with each other by drinking alcohol to earn gifts.

In 2019, a Chinese man surnamed Chu, 29, died after he live-streamed himself drinking alcohol in a supermarket in Dalian, Liaoning province.

In 2018, another livestreamer with the online name "Dafei" died shortly after he recorded himself drinking alcohol and cooking oil.

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