Young males hang off Adelaide’s tallest buildings, post videos to Instagram, TikTok, sparking police investigation
Youths are publishing pictures and videos of themselves risking their lives atop Adelaide buildings, including a Christmas stunt at Crowne Plaza Adelaide – the city’s highest skyscraper.
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Young men are dangling from the rooftops of Adelaide’s tallest buildings and showing off their vertigo-inducing stunts on social media, triggering a police investigation.
Shocking images from Instagram and TikTok show what appears to be teenagers or young adults who chase thrills and risk their lives atop Adelaide’s city buildings, including Crowne Plaza Adelaide and at least 10 more prominent high-rises.
One video also shows a young man and a filmer “surfing” the roof of a train on the Belair Line, narrowly ducking as the train enters a tunnel.
A police spokeswoman said the matters have been referred to Eastern District Police for investigating.
Responding to pictures and videos of males precariously positioned on the rooftop of The Adelaidean – the city’s tallest building at 37 storeys – Crowne Plaza Adelaide general manager Robert Coates said police had been informed.
“The group seen in the photos were unauthorised trespassers,” he said. “The police have been notified and along with the building management, we are supporting them with an investigation.”
On Christmas last year, photos and videos taken on the rooftop of the 138m-tall Frome St skyscraper were published on two Instagram accounts.
They showed youngsters sitting beside the Crowne Plaza sign and on a metal shelter atop the building, legs dangling, as one wore a Santa hat.
“Casually dropped the most insane post yet,” read one comment on the Instagram posts. “Mega ups my lad.”
The accounts broadcasting these and other Adelaide high-rise stunts mostly use pseudonyms and hide faces in an attempt to keep identities secret.
They used handles and hashtags referring to “urbex”, short for urban exploration. The Urban Dictionary describes urbexing as “the act of going to and exploring places that are not normally visited or often even accessible to the general public”.
The police spokeswoman strongly condemned the behaviour.
“These types of actions are incredibly dangerous, have significant risks and may result in serious injury or possibly death,” she said. “We encourage this group and any other groups of people thinking of replicating these actions to think seriously about the consequences that come with it.”
Most images capturing the group’s flirtations with death were published last year.
Responding to images taken atop Rundle Mall Plaza, RMP property manager Evan Brumby said he was not aware of the “unauthorised” activity before being contacted by The Advertiser.
“We are reviewing the circumstances surrounding how they accessed these areas, as it has not been internally through our building,” he said. “We will be reviewing (security measures) immediately in light of becoming aware of this activity.”
An alarming image taken at Adelaide’s 30-storey Kodo Apartments building showed a male hanging by one arm off the edge.
The Instagram caption read: “Sorry I wasn’t the son you wanted mum and dad. Love you.”
Older images, taken atop Adelaide’s 31-storey RAA House, were published in 2021 when the building was Westpac House.
One showed a man standing on the Westpac “W”, as Instagram commenters praised the risk-takers as “f--king wild” and “maddawgs”.
A spokesman for ICAM, the building’s owner, confirmed RAA House has security lift access and the company does not allow people to climb on the building’s edge.
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