Two Dubai teenagers latest victims of ‘Blue Whale’ game, alarm in the region

Dubai Police are investing a suicide case involving two Filipino teenagers allegedly claimed to be the latest victims of the ‘Blue Whale’ game.

The students’ death occurred nearly 24 hours apart, reported Gulf News.

It has not been determined whether the Blue Whale link is true, but, sources close to the students claim it is.

Speaking to the newspaper, Dubai police said that the victims had discussed the notions of suicide on their social media accounts.

“Both students are from the same school but are not related. The girl, 16, hanged herself inside her room and the boy, 15, plunged to death from the eighth floor of his building,” said a Dubai police official.

“At 11pm, on Wednesday, we received another call about boy who jumped to his death in al-Ghusais area too. The boy was a very clever student and was an only child. The father couldn’t believe that the body on the pavement belonged to his son,” the official added.

Foul play has been ruled out as a cause of death.

Alarm in the region

Should the deaths be confirmed as a result of suicide inflicted by the ‘Blue Whale’ game, the incident might be sounding alarms for the Middle East to be taking precautions and raising awareness on the issue among its youth.

Recently, several cases of suicide in the MENA region related to the game have been reported.

Arab countries are on edge due to the number of Arab teenagers getting involved in the game, specifically in Algeria. The Tunisian government has also warned families of the dangers of the internet, advising parents to keep a close eye on their children.

The deadly game requires players to go through 50 challenges over 50 days. The challenges begin with self-harm, leading up to the final challenge which is suicide by hanging or jumping off a high building.

Last week, a 17-year-old Egyptian girl caused the death of her mother and disabled brother after she burnt their house down as part of a ‘Blue Whale’ game task, said a security official.

During investigations, it was learned that the teenager, had poured petrol throughout the house then lit it on fire.

Also, former Egyptian MP Hamdy al-Fakharany’s son was found dead in his room on Monday night where several notes with scribbled handwriting and unknown symbols referring to the infamous ‘Blue Whale’ game were found, according to his sister.

Yasmeen al-Fakharany took to her Facebook account to blame the game for her brother’s death, stating that they found papers with whale drawings among other symbols related to the game.

In Morocco, a teenager committed suicide by throwing himself off of a building rooftop in Aghadir, south of the country, to complete the game’s final challenge.