The stunt happened in south-western Russia. Police have arrested one boy

The teens say they did the stunt to gain more social media likes and views

As the flames engulfed the boys they launched into the water below

set themselves on fire and then jumped off a bridge

Hair raising footage from Russia shows a group of teenagers atop a high bridge setting themselves on fire and then jumping into the murky waters below in the name of getting more likes on social media.

The unusual stunt happened in the south-western Russian city of Penza where two videos of the teenagers launching themselves from the bridge were shared online.

The first video starts off by showing a teen being doused in a flammable liquid before a friend puts a lighter to his coat to set the boy alight.

To make sure the boy had to jump into the water he was doused in a flammable liquid so the flames engulfed his body. There was no way to back down, he had to jump

The flames start to spread from the daredevil's coat. He is nearly ready to jump off the high bridge in order to get more social media likes

As the flames quickly engulf the lad he jumps from the bridge and makes a splash as he lands in the water below.

The second video was filmed from the ground and shows two burning daredevils jumping from the same bridge, almost in tandem, much to the delight of their onlooking friends.

The two boys can later be seen swimming in the water seemingly unharmed after they leaped.

One of the thrill seeking youngsters said he jumped to get more likes and views on social media. He didn't mention a desire to gain the adrenaline rush that undoubtedly comes from jumping from a bridge while on fire.

The boy is ablaze and to escape excruciating burns he jumps into the cool water below. Police are investigating the gang of teens over their bridge antics

The boy looks a bit like a comet falling from the sky due to the flame trail he leaves in his wake

'We did it for the likes on social media. We took the idea from a blogger. We made a bet with our friends and jumped off the bridge. We wanted to get a lot of views,' he said.

The police are checking the circumstances of the stunt and have reportedly arrested one of the pair.

A number of Russian youngsters appear to have penchants for fear inducing stunts.

Russian trio Ivan Kuznetsov, 22, Alihan, 20, and Ivan Semenov, 24, used a drone to film themselves scaling the Eiffel Tower in Paris earlier this year without any using any safety equipment despite the windy conditions of the day.

The trio survived the climb up the 985ft structure and impressively managed to scale up and then down the landmark without getting caught by security.

Similar videos have emerged online of Russian youngsters setting themselves on fire and then jumping from a height into the snow below to cool off.