Mum begged daughter, 12, to stop social media challenges before she died in train horror

The mum of a 12-year-old girl who died while pulling off social media stunts, has revealed how she begged her to stop before her daughter snuck out in the night to film another daredevil video.

Zemfira Mukhtarov was only 12 when she died in a subway surfing incident and had posted terrifying daredevil videos to TikTok — including one where she lay on train tracks — in the weeks leading up to her tragic death.

The New York Post shared videos of young Zemfira from Brooklyn, whose mother said her pre-teen daughter was obsessed with pulling off the social media stunts, despite her parents’ begging her not to. Her mum said she tried to warn her out-of-control daughter that “it’s dangerous, you don’t have to do this.”

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But despite her pleas, her daughter continued to take huge risks and even posted a TikTok video of herself laying on the tracks as a subway rumbled over her. She was killed near the Marcy Avenue-Broadway station in Brooklyn, New York City earlier this week.

Ms Rudenko said she came home from work to find that her thrill-seeking daughter had snuck out of the house sometime before 3am while her younger sister and dad were sleeping.

At around 3:10am, Zemfira and her 13-year-old friend, Ebba Morina of Manhattan, were found unconscious near the Williamsburg station and were both later pronounced dead.

The 12 year old had become obsessed with stunts, including subway stunts, sneaking into empty mansions and climbing onto the roofs of high-rises — sometimes posting the videos online.

Ms Rudenko said she does not know the other girl who was with her and believes the two girls probably met online. The police said there were up to 15 youngsters running around inside the train before the tragedy. Zemfira’s father, Ruslan Mukhtarov, posted a GoFundMe page to raise money for his daughter’s funeral and memorial service, with nearly AU$25,000 (£12,299) in donations raised so far.

Meanwhile, city officials continue to warn teens and youngsters not to subway surf. The dangerous stunts, increasingly fuelled by social media, killed six people last year and five in 2023.

It comes after an 11-year-old British boy died after taking part in an alleged social media craze gone wrong, according to his family. Tommie-Lee Gracie Billington suffered a suspected cardiac arrest last year after taking part in a dangerous craze called 'chroming'.

His heartbroken grandmother Tina Burns urged social media giants to 'do more' to protect children after he attempted the stunt while staying at a friend's house.

Chroming, also known as huffing or sniffing, is where someone inhales toxic chemicals such as paint, solvent, aerosol cans, cleaning products or petrol. When the inhalants are abused, they affect the central nervous system and slow down brain activity, which results in a short-term 'high.' The trend can result in slurred speech, dizziness, hallucinations, nausea and disorientation but can also cause a heart attack or suffocation.

A TikTok spokesperson told the Mirror that there was no evidence of chroming being a TikTok-specific challenge or that it had been trending on their platform.