The video will start in 8 Cancel

News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A teenage boy died after he jumped off a tower block while wearing a homemade parachute which failed.

Schoolboy Bogdan Firsov even had his mother by his side supporting him as he stood at the top of the high rise building in Ukraine for his daredevil stunt.

But the 15-year-old's parachute failed to open properly and the boy plummeted to the ground and suffered fatal injuries.

The teenager had previously taken selfies on rooftops in the eastern Ukrainian city of Makiivka, and was a self-confessed adrenaline junkie.

He was filmed in his final moments stood on top of the 14-storey building with his arms outstretched.

(Image: east2west news)

A friend on the ground filmed the fall, but also captured the parachute, failing to unfurl during the 140ft drop.

An eyewitness said: “A crowd of people was there and nobody tried to stop him.

“They only filmed.

“People are not human any longer, they have lost all common sense.”

He said: “It happened right in front of my eyes.

“The boy jumped down with a parachute.

(Image: Anna Liesowska /east2west news)

“He flew down and hit the ground with his back.

“It was really tough.”

Other relatives joined the boy’s mother in watching, filming and photographing the horror in jump for which he used a “homemade” parachute, say reports.

They appeared to be 'encouraging him' and 'cheering him' - and no-one called the police to halt the stunt.

The mother - whose name was not given - was “so shocked by his death that she refused to leave the spot”.

But experts said even a full working parachute would not have saved him.

Ukranian newspaper Fakti reported: "The lowest possible height for a jump with a parachute is 70 metres – a building of at least 25 storeys.

(Image: Anna Liesowska /east2west news)

“And even then it would have been a dangerous jump.”

Another newspaper reported: “Dozens of people watched him doing it, including his family, his mother.

“They were filming the jump but nobody was brave enough to stop this young ‘extreme-lover’.

“Nobody called the police, and so we see the result.”

He had waited two minutes on the rooftop before jumping, said witnesses.

The boy wore a helmet and there was “padding” on the ground below but he died instantly.

(Image: east2west news)

An ambulance arrived soon after the jump but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Makiivka is in an area of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian forces.

Locals know the scene of the tragedy as “doomed tall building” because of other deaths.

“This is the third teenager within the last year,” said one local on a social network.