Influencer dies after livestreaming himself chugging bottles of liquor during social media challenge

An influencer died shortly after downing several bottles of baijiu — a liquor boasting an alcohol content typically between 30% and 60% — as part of a social media challenge he livestreamed on the Chinese version of TikTok.

The social media star — known as "Sanqiange" or "Brother Three Thousand" — was found dead just hours after he completed a "PK" challenge, which typically involves influencers facing off in a bid to win prizes from their followers and fans, according to local news outlets.

The loser, on the other hand, often has to suffer some sort of punishment. In this instance, it was chugging bottles of strong alcohol.

The competition kicked off in the early hours of May 16. A clip of the contest — which went viral on the Chinese platform Douyin and is no longer available for viewing — showed several bottles of the clear spirit placed on the desk in front of Sanqiange, identified only by his real-life surname of Wang. He can then be seen drinking each one of them without pause.

"I don't know how much he had consumed before I tuned in. But in the latter part of the video, I saw him finish three bottles before starting on a fourth," a friend of the influencer, identified as Zhao, told Shangyou News. He said at least 100 people tuned in to watch the broadcast.

Viewers said he may have drank as many as seven bottles.

"The PK games ended at around 1 a.m. and by 1 p.m. (when his family found him) he was gone," Zhao added.

The Douyin platform already bans drinking during livestreams, with punishments ranging from warnings to users being banned. Wang was reportedly kicked off the platform in the past for using alcohol in his content, but returned by creating new accounts, Chinese media reported. His most recent profile had more than 44,000 followers.