A 15-year-old girl in Spain was admitted to hospital after it was discovered that she was playing a terrifying ‘suicide game’ called the Blue Whale Challenge.
She was saved from killing herself after her family found out she had signed up to the challenge and tipped off the authorities.
The girl was being cared for at a hospital psychiatric unit in Barcelona on Thursday night.
This incident adds to concern that the challenge – thought to be behind a string of teenage suicides in Russia is gaining popularity in Western Europe.
The girl is understood to have been contacted by a mystery Internet user at the start of the month who asked her if she wanted to commit suicide and sent her basic instructions.
Spanish radio station SER said that she agreed to do everything she was asked and send photographs as proof, as well as erase online exchanges to ensure she left no traces of messages.
She reportedly began a series of daily challenges soon, which included self-harming herself on her arm with a knife. She also had to go to a nearby station to watch high-speed trains rush past.
The teen is understood to have signed up to killing herself by throwing herself under a train. She became so absorbed in the game that she confided in a relative who alerted the police and health officials.
Police are now said to be probing at least 130 suicides across Russia which they fear are linked to the online craze.
Just recently Yulia Konstantinova, 15, and Veronika Volkova, 16, fell to their deaths from the roof of an apartment block in industrial Ust-Ilimsk. Yulia left a note saying ‘End’ on her social page and earlier had posted a picture with a big blue whale. Her friend wrote: ‘Sense is lost…End.’
A knife or razor to make the shape of a whale on their wrist or leg is also being used and players are also urged to watch horror movies all day and to wake themselves at 4.20am.
Last month Devon and Cornwall Police PSCO Kirsty Down posted the following message on Twitter: ‘Whoever created this horrible game is sick. Parents: Please be aware of this ‘game’. Talk to your children about it if concerned.’