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Firefighters free 2 drunk women who padlocked their necks together and flushed key down toilet

A drinking game called 'life and death' popularised via social media has come under fire after firefighters were forced to free two women who padlocked themselves together

ZHEJIANG, CHINA: Two women in eastern China had to turn to firefighters after padlocking their necks together and flushing the key down the toilet in a drinking game that had become popular on Chinese social media. According to The Paper, the unnamed women in their 20s from Zhejiang province caused a public uproar after chaining their necks together in a game of 'life and death.'

On November 18, the Hangzhou Fire Department received a report that two women were in trouble at a restaurant and had "lost" the key to a padlocked chain they were wearing around their necks after one of them flushed it down the toilet. After a desperate but futile search for the key, firefighters had to cut the chain with bolt cutters. The footage shows a firefighter holding the two women while a colleague frees them with bolt cutters, according to the South China Morning Post.

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The women bought an iron chain and lock online and then asked the guest sitting next to them to put the chain around their necks as they walked into the restaurant from a local pub. One of the firefighters said, “We discovered later that the two girls had asked a male stranger at the next table to lock their necks with iron chains.”

One of the women flushed the key down the toilet and returned to their table to continue drinking. The bewildered restaurant staff volunteered to assist break the chain with pliers but the women declined, stating that it would be against the rules of the game. After the story was widely published in mainland China, the women experienced public criticism. One online commenter wrote, “Don’t they have anything better to do? It is just confusing.” Another said, “Please don’t waste public resources. The firefighters are already busy.”

As alcohol consumption rises at a steady rate in China, drinking games are becoming more and more popular among young people in the country. In one such game called "guessing toothpick," participants must estimate how many toothpicks a player is holding. The person who gets the closest to the true amount must drink. In another game called 'game', players take turns counting and whoever shouts out a multiple of seven must drink.