BRISBANE, Australia — A man who fell seven stories to his death in Australia on Sunday was believed to have been participating in a new craze called “planking,” in which people lie face-down on objects with their heads down and their arms beside their bodies to resemble a plank while someone else takes their photograph.
Queensland police issued a statement Sunday in which they urged “‘plankers’ to re-think their actions” following the death of the unnamed man about 4:30 a.m. at an apartment in the Brisbane suburb of Kangaroo Point.
Emergency services were unable to revive the man, identified by the Brisbane Times as 20-year-old Acton Beale, after he plunged from the balcony on Main Street.
“Police fear that as planking gains popularity there may be more injuries and potentially further deaths,” Deputy Commissioner Ross Barnett said.
The prank has become an internet sensation since participants started sharing photos of their antics online, sometimes in dangerous settings.
A Facebook page called Planking Australia has more than 55,000 fans who have been posting photos of planking in usual places including on top of a McDonald’s sign, office desk, railway tracks, brick wall and a chair lift.
People are trying to out-do each other by planking on structures or in precarious positions putting themselves and others at risk, the Queensland Police statement said.
More wacky planksters, also from Planking Australia (
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“The potential for disaster increases as more and more risks are taken to get the ultimate photo,” the statement warned.
Australian man Nate Shaw, 20, was last week charged after police saw a photo of him planking over a police car.