Two friends jump off bridge into river to shoot TikTok video; one missing

Two teenagers jumped off a crowded bridge at a 'ghat' in Deoria district in a bid to pull off a dangerous stunt to share on the popular social media app TikTok, police said Tuesday.

One of them, Danish (19), was saved by locals but the other, Ashique (19), has been missing since the incident on Monday evening. A search has been under way in Majhna Nala, a subsidiary of Choti Gandak river, for Ashique.

As the news of the incident spread, a large number of people gathered along the river bank as police officials launched an investigation to know what exactly had happened.

The duo had reportedly set out for an evening walk and after reaching the bridge, they joined a group of youngsters performing similar stunts there and filming themselves on the mobile phones.

Eyewitnesses told police that Danish first jumped into the river, while Ashique filmed the stunt and cheered him. Moments later, he too jumped off the bridge.

"Divers have been pressed in to service to fish out the body," said Deoria city police station SHO Rajendra Singh.

Danish, a resident of Aurangabad in Hyedrabad, had come to visit his relatives and had befriended Ashique, an auto-rickshaw driver from the area, Singh said.