Coronavirus pranksters dress in hazmat outfits and drop liquid on train
The Coronavirus is creating new material for 'comedians.'
The Coronavirus has been declared a global health emergency and killed more than 1,100 people to date.
But that hasn’t stopped some ‘comedians’ from making light of the crisis – with very differing outcomes.
Two New York teenagers were laughed at as they ‘accidentally released’ a liquid they claimed contained the coronavirus, now officially renamed Covid-19.
However, a prankster in Moscow faces five years in jail after frightening fellow train commuters by ‘collapsing’ onto the floor.
Experts claimed today that coronavirus could kill up to 45 million people but it is clear some people take the threat more seriously than others.
Last month commuters on a subway train in Brooklyn were stunned when two men dressed in hazmat suits sat among them.
They were wearing protective masks, an increasingly common sight, and carrying a clear container labelled WARNNG.
The ‘jokers’ told passengers red liquid inside the box contained coronavirus before proceeding to ‘accidentally’ spill it on the floor.
Some realised straight away it was a joke and looked on amused or even unimpressed.
There was genuine panic among some though as they ran from the liquid and jumped on train seats as it travelled along the floor.
Prankster Morris Cordewell, 19, told Insider he and friend David Flores, 17, were responsible for the stunt and they had used Kool-Aid in the box.
He said: ‘The first half people were kinda scared. After we were like “Yo it’s a prank,” people were laughing.
‘There was one lady with her kids sitting next to me just laughing the whole time.
‘I don’t know how she knew it was a joke, but she knew it was a joke the whole time.’
It was a very different story in Russia as police arrested a man suspected of imitating a coronavirus victims and collapsing on a train as a prank.
Footage posted online shows concerned passengers attempting to assist a man in a mask as he falls to the floor and begins to convulse.
Police were then called in and the suspect was arrested on suspicion of criminal hooliganism and now faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
Russia’s interior ministry said they are now hunting for two accomplices who could be heard shouting that the man had coronavirus.
Local news in Russia called it a prank that ‘got out of control’ and the suspect is now in shock at the backlash.
His lawyer said he expects any charges to be dropped.