Girl Dies After Doing Dangerous Challenge Popular On TikTok

A 12-year-old girl in Argentina, Milagros Soto, was found dead inside her home after participating in the TikTok "blackout challenge," also known as the "choking challenge" or "pass-out challenge." The challenge was being live-streamed to her school friends and she had received a link to the dare via a WhatsApp message from one of her classmates.

She was discovered by her father upon his return from work on Friday. Soto attempted to remove a rope from her neck twice and failed on a third try, ultimately leading to her death while her friends watched. Her aunt believes that someone had encouraged her to participate in the dangerous challenge and revealed that Soto had been bullied by classmates at her school.

12-year-old Milagros Soto died Friday inside her northeastern Argentina home after taking part in the viral TikTok 'blackout challenge' in which a person has to hold their breath until they pass out and then share how they felt when they are conscious 
Luque said, "We have a lot of doubts about everything that occurred. She was a very smart girl. She suffered a lot of bullying. She told us that nobody liked her at school because they said she looked pretty, because she was blonde and had light blue eyes." She also added, "She was a happy person, an excellent niece, granddaughter, and daughter. A very studious girl because we have nothing else to say because everyone here knew her as the girl who smiled with those big eyes."

According to an autopsy report obtained by the newspaper Clarín, Soto's death was caused by "mechanical asphyxia by hanging" and no signs of abuse or third-party intervention were found. Officials at School No. 223 Lieutenant General Pablo Riccieri, where Soto was a student, remembered her as "a great student, classmate, sweet, good and kind."

Authorities have recovered Soto's cell phone and are investigating whether any of the students at the school were involved in the deadly challenge. Luque said, "We are in a society where if you don't do this you're not part of the group, if you don't do what we tell you, you're (worthless)." She also stated that the investigation is ongoing and she will not stop until she knows what happened to her niece. She believes that her niece would not have been able to take her own life. The 'blackout challenge' is a viral trend where a person records themselves holding their breath for as long as they can before passing out and then explaining their experiences in a separate video.

Milagros Soto was reportedly bullied by her classmates, according to her aunt, because of her blonde hair and light blue eyes

According to People, the challenge dates back to 2008 and made an appearance again on TikTok in 2021.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has linked at least 80 deaths to the social media "blackout challenge" or "choking challenge."
 In November 2020, Bloomberg Businessweek reported that at least 15 children under the age of 12 had died from the challenge in the previous 18 months. Additionally, five deaths were reported for children between the ages of 13 and 14 during the same period.