TikTokers are convinced there's a zombie apocalypse going on in China
People are freaking out after seeing a 'zombie' come to life.
It's all taking place, naturally on TikTok, where users are warning that the end could be nigh after a video began doing the rounds on the site, which appeared to show a cadaver regaining consciousness in China.
So worried are they that the hashtag 'Zombies in China' has caught fire, with people certain that the apocalypse is upon us.
Have a look for yourself:
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In one video, which purports to be CCTV footage from what looks like a mortuary, two bodies can be seen lying on tables.
However, just a few seconds into the clip, an arm pops out from under one of the sheets – which probably shouldn't happen with a dead body, right?
A limp body soon emerges, having pulled the covers away and sitting up.
The 'zombie' then hops off the table and tries to stand up straight, but struggles, clinging onto the side to stop it from falling.
A bit weird, I'll admit.
Well, the eerie clip has scared the hell out of a lot of people. Sharing the video, one user said: "Zombie wakes up in China."
Another commented: "SO THE PEOPLE SAYING THAT THERES ZOMBIES IN CHINA WEREN'T CHATTING S**T?"
"Why’re they sayin there’s zombies in china???" while a third asked.
Despite the widespread panic over the video, though, we need to acknowledge that zombies are not real.
Not sure who really needed to hear that, but here we are.
Offering an explanation as to what could have been going on, one user said: "Probably a mispronounced death. It happens a scary amount of times."
While another asked: "How can u tell this is real for sure?"
Others have also slammed the claims as being racist following on from a rise in sinophobic attacks due to the coronavirus pandemic. One person said: "There are no zombies in China. Stop spewing sinophobic rhetoric."
The TikTok conspiracy theory seems to have started after an article published by the veteran-led, military-focussed digital publisher We Are The Mighty – titled 'This is how a zombie apocalypse is most likely to start in China' – suggested China's Communist government would cover up a zombie apocalypse if it was to happen, and therefore help it spread by not sharing any information they did, hypothetically, have.
It's worth noting the article quoted Max Brooks book, World War Z, which is fiction.
Not long after the article was published, the above video emerged, which did the rounds for a while before a TikToker uploaded it with the caption, 'China reports its first zombie case'. From there, as these things do, it spread like wildfire.
However, the origins of the video are unclear, some reports suggest it's in Russia, others say China, though the original Reddit post it appeared under has been deleted, so – in case you weren't already – it's worth taking all this with a pinch of salt.
It wouldn't be the first time someone has been falsely declared dead, though.
Earlier this year, a man in China was possibly minutes away from being cremated after undertakers noticed that his body bag was moving.
As shown in viral footage of the incident, which happened on 1 May, mortuary workers in protective clothes appear to pull the bodybag out of a van and onto a trolley, where they quickly realise that the man is, shockingly, still alive.
"Alive! Did you see that? Alive!” says one. “Do not cover him again!” says another.
One worker then walks over to other members of staff, as the elderly patient – who was a resident at the Shanghai Xinchangzheng Nursing Home – is wheeled back inside. The person filming called the incident a 'disgrace for human life'.
They said: "Now they're discussing what to do. Get them out of there; what else can you do? What you're doing is immoral.
"They're not even dead, and they're put in a van to go to the funeral home."
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Dominic Smithers