Police and schools in chilling warning of ‘Blue Whale’ suicide game that is feared to be heading for the UK and is linked to teen deaths
The game was probed by Russian police after it was linked to teen deaths as Brit parents are told to be vigilant
SCHOOLS and cops have warned parents after fears a sick suicide game called ‘Blue Whale’ is coming to the UK.
The game was probed by Russian police after it was linked to teen deaths as Brit parents are told to be vigilant.
Blue Whale is said to involve teens completing daily tasks for 50 days including self-harming, watching horror movies and waking up at unusual hours.
But on the final day, the controlling manipulators behind the game reportedly instruct the youngsters to commit suicide.
Now there are concerns the horrific game could soon be targeting British youngsters after some deaths in Russia were linked to it.
An Essex school has warned of the social media game which is feared may lead to teens self harming.
The head of Woodlands School in Basildon sent out a letter to parents urging them to be vigilant.
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Essex Live reports David Wright wrote: "We have discovered a game through the police that we feel you should be aware of," it says.
"As you already know from my previous letters, we have a duty of care for our pupils and are striving to do all we can to ensure that you are given the latest information to help safeguard our young people."
Police in Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire have also spoken out about the game after the deaths of teens in Russia.
While both forces confirmed there have been no reports of the Blue Whale Challenge in either counties, parents should monitor their child's internet usage.
In Russia two schoolgirls Yulia Konstantinova, 15, and Veronika Volkova, 16, fell to their deaths from the roof of a 14-storey apartment block.
Another unnamed 15-year-old girl was also critically injured after falling onto snowy ground from a fifth floor flat in the city of Krasnoyarsk, also Siberia.
Two days earlier, a 14-year-old girl from Chita was reported to have thrown herself under a commuter train.
In all cases, state investigators are probing whether the controversial social media 'suicide game' had influenced the girls to take their own lives.
It was reported that two teenage boys were detained by police at the scene after allegedly filming the tragic double suicide.
The Russian Investigative Committee opened a probe on "incitement to suicide" regarding the pair's death.
In Krasnoyarsk, law enforcement recently opened three criminal cases of incitement to suicide involving schoolgirls via the groups on social media.
One local school director told police he had received an anonymous call saying a student had joined a "group of death" and planned soon to kill herself.
The police identified the girl who explained that she had joined a "game" and had been given "tasks" by the group administrator.
She did not obey the commands, which involved self-harm, but there were fears that others did.
There was deep concern last year when there were fears that the sinister masterminds could be behind a number of suicides across Russia.
A report onsaid that an internal report by the FSB secret service, once headed by Vladimir Putin, "indicated that the problem of provoking suicides among underage children via the Internet is really serious".
Last year, an alleged ringleader named as 21-year-old Philipp Budeikin was detained, and he has been charged with organising eight groups between 2013 and 2016 which "promote suicide".
Some 15 teenagers committed suicide, and another five were rescued at the last moment, according to the case against him.
A 2011 Unicef report found that Russia has the third-highest teen suicide rate in the world, more than three times the global average.
Experts have linked the high number of suicides in Russia to the availability of alcohol and quality of life.
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, the Samaritans can be contacted on 020 7734 2800