New York teenager killed and another injured after carrying out TikTok trend of ‘subway surfing’
The teenagers, both aged 14, were knocked off a moving Manhattan-bound train when it approached a tunnel
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Your support makes all the difference.A New York teenager had died and another has been injured after carrying out the TikTok trend of “subway surfing”.
Windinson Garcia and Brian Crespo, both aged 14, were participating in a dangerous stunt known as “subway surfing,” which involves jumping on top of train cars on Thursday, ABC News reported.
The pair were knocked off a moving Manhattan-bound L train when it approached a tunnel before entering the Bushwick-Aberdeen Ave stop. While Garcia survived and was transported to hospital, Crespo was pronounced dead at the scene.
“His waist is broken and he has like a lot of bruises and stitches all over his body,” Garcia’s cousin Erika, who did not share her last name, told ABC. “I don’t know why he decided to do stuff like that ... He’s very smart. He’s like - how do I say - he likes to do dangerous things like that.”
Following the death of a 15-year-old under similar circumstances in February, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) released data that suggested incidents of passengers riding outside of subway cars had increased by 366 per cent since 2021.
Another teen, 14, was also killed in March after he fell between moving subway cars.
During a press conference on Thursday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams urged TikTok to ban and take down videos of teens engaging in the high-stakes stunt which gather millions of views for the platform.
“Today we lost another child. The consequences of social media and other addictive online content are tragic and real,” the mayor said. “Subway surfing kills.”
Speaking with CBS News, Windinson’s father Kleber Garcia said he had spent the last few days at his son’s hospital bed, while mourning his friend’s death. The teen had just graduated junior high the day before his life was cut short.
“They were sons to him, even [the teenager who died] was like a son to him. They were like brothers and knew each other since they were young,” Mr Garcia said.
TikTok issued a statement to CBS, saying that moderators are actively addressing the trend and removing videos from the platform.
“Our deepest sympathies go out to family and friends of the young person involved in this incident. This dangerous activity predates our platform, and we strictly remove such content if we see it on TikTok,” a spokesperson said.
“More than 40,000 safety professionals are dedicated to keeping our community safe and work diligently to remove harmful content when found.”
In March, the MTA launched a campaign to address the trend but parents who have lost their children said that more must be done to educate teens on the dangers of subway surfing.
“The MTA has failed us. And it continues to fail parents,” Norma Nazario, who lost her son Zackery in February, told the New York Post on Saturday.
“The doors need to be locked, unless it’s an emergency — then they can open ... If they had done something 15 years ago … my son would still be here.”
The MTA has previously said that some doors are kept open in cases of emergency. The Independent has reached out to the agency for comment.
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