Police investigate after Russian films himself skateboarding atop Hong Kong skyscraper
Unclear exactly where and when he pulled off stunt, but video already has over a million views
Police are investigating the latest death-defying video by a Russian stuntman who filmed himself balancing precariously atop a Hong Kong skyscraper.
Oleg Sherstyachenko diced with death as he performed somersaults and tiptoed along the edge of a skyscraper rooftop that appeared to be in Admiralty.
The young Siberian videographer, known to fans as Oleg Cricket, even skateboarded on the rooftop while lying on his stomach, apparently without safety ropes or harnesses.
It remained unclear when Sherstyachenko pulled off the stunts.
He uploaded the terrifying video to his Instagram page last week, attracting more than a million views and eliciting thousands of enthusiastic comments from his 400,000 followers.
In a caption accompanying the one-minute clip, which he also shared on YouTube, he described the stunts as a promotional “collaboration” with UK watch company Circulr.
Watch: ‘Oleg Cricket’ high above Hong Kong
But local police are investigating whether any laws were broken when the video was made.
On Sunday, a police spokeswoman said the force had not received a report relating to the video but would “look into the incident”.
It is not yet known where exactly the video was filmed. The clip features audio of someone shouting at Sherstyachenko in Cantonese as he roams the rooftop, which he captions: “If you [sic] not coming down, we’ll call the cops.”
The stuntman, who began training as a gymnast at 16 , is later seen walking along the building’s narrow beams before dangling from them over the city below while he does pull-up exercises.
The fearless rooftopper made headlines worldwide with similar performances in Hong Kong last summer for an advert for hotel booking website Travel Ticker. He has also performed high-profile stunts on Tsing Ma Bridge, Dubai’s Princess Tower and across buildings in Moscow.
Neither he nor Circulr responded to requests for comment on Sunday.
Hong Kong, home to some of the world’s tallest skyscrapers, has long been a destination of choice for members of the so-called ‘rooftopping’ community.
We also cannot characterise all young people as being ambitious enough to skate on an open rooftop
Meanwhile, members of local stunt group Exthetics – Dex Ng, Daniel Lau and Lawrence Tsui – have gained notoriety for their heart-stopping videos.
Joseph Wan, founder and president of local youth NGO Support International Foundation, said that although he thought the rooftopping trend in Hong Kong was “potentially dangerous” he did not think videos such as Sherstyachenko’s would necessarily influence young people to imitate it.
“It’s hard to generalise about the safety of rooftopping, given that most rooftops are fenced up or have concrete barriers,” he said. “We also cannot characterise all young people as being ambitious enough to skate on an open rooftop.”
Wan declined to comment on the legality of the practice.
Despite its controversial nature, the video was widely praised on YouTube, where it has been viewed more than 475,000 times since it was uploaded on January 28.
