Stay out of sewers warning after rescue of ‘urban explorers’ copying Youtube videos
POLICE have warned children against “urban exploring”, a trend driven by Youtubers this summer, after three boys were dragged from a city sewer.
Children have been spurred to copy social media videos in which the participants squeeze and climb their way into difficult-to-access or abandoned places, showing off from the top of high towers, inside derelict buildings and in sewers.
There are concerns that young people could be injured or even killed by taking part in risky behaviour shown in videos online.
A search for “urban exploring sewers” on Youtube brings up 11,000 results, while “urbex” shows 770,000. Between them, these videos have tens of millions of views. The “urbex” community has its own celebrities, and enthusiasts seek popularity by finding and filming the most unusual or forgotten abandoned building or structure they can.
However, there have been warnings that exploring derelict buildings, that are perhaps inaccessible to emergency services, can potentially be fatal. Police have also pointed out that in many cases, “urbex” amounts to trespass.
Warnings have been issued after a large emergency operation in Northampton on Monday evening, when three boys became trapped in the town’s sewer system.
Road closures were put in place in the Kingsthorpe area after a young man phoned an emergency operator, reporting that he was lost with two friends in a drain. Sergeant Neil Goosey, of Northamptonshire Police’s crime prevention team, said that young people “put themselves at risk to climb buildings, as well as causing damage to property”.
“We’re asking parents and carers to talk to young people about the dangers of this kind of activity, so they understand how something they may see as exciting and fun is actually dangerous, and possibly also criminal.”
He warned the nature of urban exploring meant those who were injured would often be difficult to reach by emergency services.
The local council has launched an investigation into “urbex” and hopes to identify repeat offenders and work with parents and schools to prevent the practice.