Xiao Qiumei was a Chinese TikTok star who plunged to her death while acting as a crane operator in a livestream 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 she 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 TikTok influencer actually made a living as a “tower crame operator.” 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. News.com.au reported that most of her coworkers were already gone when she fell from the crane.
According to The New York Post, Quimei “fell to the ground with her phone in her hand on Tuesday around 5:40 p.m., after most of her co-workers had left the site in the city of Quzhou, in China’s western Zhejiang Province.”
The 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. Funeral services have already taken place.
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 this month. 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 recently undergoing an underarm sweating procedure. Bodybuilder Odalis Santos Mena, 23, traveled to the SkinPiel clinic for the procedure, according to Insider.com. The New York Post reported that the influencer went into cardiac arrest.
According to News.com.au, Qiumei was the mother of two young children.
She was only 23 years old.
The site reported that “she was a professional at work, and kept her mobile phone in her bag during working hours.”
She felt to her death at the end of her crane operating shift in Quzhou, in western China’s Zhejiang Province.