Wu Yongning, named himself “China’s First Rooftopper”, met an accident during his livestream from the roof of a skyscraper. He allegedly performed the stunt to cover his wedding expenses and to take care of his sick mother.
The 26-year-old man lost his grip and plunged from the 62-storey structure to his death when he was clinging to the side of the construction, in November, 2017. A window cleaner was reported to have found his body.
Wu had intended to record his next video, make it viral and publish on his popular social media account, where he could be donated by fans who loved his stunts. He had previously planned to propose to his girlfriend after the stunt and use the money to cover the expenses concerning his wedding and his mother’s medical help.
Nobody knew that the daring stunt off the Huayuan International Centre, the capital of Hunan Province in Central China, would be Wu’s last performance. The video, earning more than 15 million shares on online platforms, depicts how Wu lowered himself over the edge of the structure to perform his signature pull-ups.
However, Wu struggled to hoist himself back up and ultimately fell out of view of the camera he had previously installed to record his stunt. His girlfriend, who chose to be known only as “Jinjin”, said that Wu had signed a deal with an unnamed sponsor for his next video, which would have earned him 100,000 RMB (£11,300) had it gone viral. Some of the members of his family also revealed that Wu was trying to finish the dangerous performance for 100,000 yuan in prize money as part of a competition, whose sponsor remained unclear.
Meanwhile, local officials examining the case depicted it as an “accident” and eliminated the possibility of any foul play. Thousands of his fans were the first to be concerned when they realized Wu had ceased to post on his streaming sites, including Weibo and Volcano. They have since flooded his social media page with tributes.
A Beijing court ordered one of the livestreaming platforms Wu had used to pay 30,000 yuan ($4,300) in compensation to his mother. Wu is generally accepted to have lost his footing and plunged to his death.
According to the police, believe Wu fell about 45 feet onto a terrace below and died of fatal injuries during or shortly after the accident. His girlfriend said she believes Wu took a lift to "over 40 floors" and then free-climbed "nearly 20 more floors" to reach the position where he filmed. VIDEO:
Source: AsiaWire
Source: AsiaWire
Source: AsiaWire
Source: AsiaWire
Source: AsiaWire
Source: AsiaWire
Source: AsiaWire