Fatal fame: Chinese man drinks himself to death chasing the live-stream dream and S$100 a day
HONG KONG — A man from north-east China who wanted to become an online celebrity has died after filming himself drinking alcohol and other things every day for three months, a news website reported, quoting a person claiming to be a friend of the victim.
The 29-year-old man had wanted to become an online celebrity by filming himself drinking alcohol and other things every day for three months.
HONG KONG — A man from north-east China who wanted to become an online celebrity has died after filming himself drinking alcohol and other things every day for three months, a news website reported, quoting a person claiming to be a friend of the victim.
The drinker, identified only as a 29-year-old surnamed Chu, made his last online appearance on Dec 31 when he live-streamed himself via the Liaoliao app “drinking alcohol” in a supermarket in Dalian, Liaoning province, Thepaper.cn reported on Feb 19.
“He died not because he drank that day, but because he had done so for three months,” the unnamed friend said.
“He drank beer and other things, without taking a rest, even for a day.”
Chu’s drinking was broadcast in several virtual rooms on the app, where viewers can communicate with the subject and one another in real time, the report said.
His friend said that as well as beer and spirits, Chu once drank cooking oil for his fans in the hope of getting cash rewards from them.
“In one video clip, he sat there telling people he couldn’t do it any more. He was twitching, but people still asked him to continue,” the friend said, adding that Chu earned about 500 yuan (S$100) a day for his efforts.
The report provided no information about the cause of death, but said Chu fell ill while taking a taxi home on New Year’s Eve after his drinking session in the supermarket. The driver became concerned and called the police who arranged for him to be taken to hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.
A man surnamed Wang, who supervises of one of the rooms Chu used, was quoted as saying that he was “partly responsible” for his death, although he added that the app’s owners should take most of the blame.
Liaoliao.com was established in 2000 as a voice-chat room and later spawned the live-streaming app.
As the news of Chu’s death became known, the app halted all of its live-streaming functions and the website blocked access to its videos.
A notice on the website said: “In response to the country’s ‘Internet Clean-up 2019’ initiative, we have launched a self-inspection. All videos have been shut down until further notice.”
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Chu is not the first person to die in China while pursuing the live-stream dream.
Earlier this month, a man in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, was killed while trying to impress his Internet fans by jumping from a bridge into a river.
In 2017, a man fell to his death while taking a selfie atop a skyscraper in Hunan province in a bid to win a 100,000 yuan bet. SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
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