TikTok Screenshots from the crane operator TikTok video by Xiao Qiumei.
Xiao Qiumei was a Chinese TikTok star who plunged to her death while acting as a crane operator in a live stream video.
According to The Sun, she fell 160 feet to her death while streaming a video. The phone was “still in her hand while she crashed to the ground,” The Sun reported.
The video, which you can watch here, shows the influencer posing for the camera before you see different portions of the crane as if the phone is falling quickly to the ground. Be forewarned that it’s disturbing because it shows what appears to be the phone tumbling down the crane.
Here’s what you need to know:
Qiumei Actually Worked as a Crane Operator
TikTokA scene from the crane operator TikTok video.
The Sun reported that the 23-year-old TikTok influencer actually made a living as a “tower crane operator” and had two young children. On TikTok, she had more than 100,000 followers using the handle Xiaoqiumei.
Her videos showed people what it was like to have a job operating a crane. “Xiao Qiumei, an influencer from China, reportedly died after falling from a 160-foot tower crane while recording herself for a social media video in the city of Quzhou, China. The 23-year-old was speaking into a camera in what appears to be a crane cabin when she fell. Duh,” wrote one Twitter user.
According to The Sun, “Eyewitnesses who saw her fall to the ground said she had her phone in her hand while the tragedy unfolded” around 5:40 p.m. on July 20, after most other workers on the site had left for the day.
The New York Post reported that her family denied that she died as part of an “Internet stunt” and said her death was the result of an accident. Her family told The Sun “she simply missed a step and fell as a result.”
The site reported that her family said “she was a professional at work, and kept her mobile phone in her bag during working hours.”
It Was the Second Falling Death of an Asian TikTok Influencer This Month
InstagramSofia Cheung was a social media influencer known for her daring shots.
It was the second death of a social media influencer in Asia in July 2021. Sofia Cheung, 32, of Hong Kong, died from a fall on July 10 while taking an Instagram selfie near a waterfall. Cheung was with three friends at Ha Pak Lai park when she slipped, falling to her death. “Better days are coming,” her last Instagram post said. “They are called: Saturday and Sunday.”
A Mexican social media influencer died on July 6 after receiving anesthesia before undergoing a procedure to prevent underarm sweating, Milenio reported. Bodybuilder Odalis Santos Mena, 23, traveled to the SkinPiel clinic for the procedure, The New York Post reported, and the influencer went into cardiac arrest.
The New York Post reported that police are investigating Mena’s death and claimed the anesthesia was “reportedly being administered by someone who wasn’t a trained anesthesiologist.” Milenio reported that Mena’s family “accused the company of medical negligence” but that the SkinPiel clinic claimed Mena had other substances in her system that she did not disclose to doctors and that fatally interacted with the anesthesia.