With thousands of followers on Weibo and a huge number of published videos, Wu Yongning had become a kind of celebrity in his homeland, sharing daring stunts on skyscrapers and other high-risk spots. However, on November 8, Wu Yongning's account suddenly went silent, and it was his girlfriend who confirmed the daredevil's death a month later. A security camera captured the exact moment of the fall, yet on the Web, many still doubt it's real.
The rooftopper craze
In the name of virality... whatever. A shot to the chest, a head cemented into a microwave oven, and now we have this. The official term for these daredevils is 'rooftoppers' — extreme climbers who generally ignore all safety measures to reach the top of skyscrapers and film their exploits. They do pull-ups on the edge, hang by one hand, pull out the selfie stick and take a photograph. Wu Yongning was one of these rooftoppers, and one of the most well-known in China. His videos were published on Weibo (the Chinese Twitter), and he had thousands of followers. And yes, the word is 'was'.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/WkN5utZs0J4The fatal fall
Wu Yongning's girlfriend confirmed her partner's death last Friday by writing: "Today is 8 December. It makes me think of 8 November, the day you left us and abandoned this world." Wu's official account had been silent after announcing he would visit the 62-story Huayuan Hua Center in Changsha. According to available information, the video showing Wu falling into the void was captured by a security camera. He hangs from the edge, starts doing exercises, and quickly the situation deteriorates as he fails to gain traction to climb back up.
Doubts and inconsistencies
The police report presents the case as an accident, ruling out any other possibility. It also indicates that Wu did not fall 62 floors, but 45, hitting a terrace. Why did he climb that skyscraper? It is believed that Wu had closed a special deal with an unidentified sponsor who was willing to pay the equivalent of about 13,000 euros, money he would use for his mother's treatment and for his wedding. From there, the information becomes confusing and irregular. Some media identify Wu's girlfriend with her surname 'Fu', while others use the name 'Jin Jin' or 'Jie Jie'. There are also wide discrepancies in the number of followers the climber had on Weibo, ranging from 60,000 to one million. And finally, despite all the posts from his friends and the official report, there are people on the Web who believe the video is fake...
