Marco Casino’s video, entitled ‘Staff Riding’, African slang for “train surfing”, documents young men dicing with death as they perform daring stunts on the country’s commuter trains.
Casino, a 27-year-old photographer who works between Turin and Milan, filmed the thrill-seekers running on the roof and hanging off the side of speeding trains.
The clip also includes an interview with a 22-year-old 'surfer', who said the practice is a “sport” that helps people free their minds of their troubles.
“I could say it’s a suicide mission,” he says.
“You get injured, people get killed…but for some of us, it’s a sport; people won’t understand, but it’s a way for us to express our feelings.”
Watch the video here:
South Africa is considered the birthplace of the “train surfing” phenomenon, with reports of people climbing on top of moving trains dating back to the 1980s. Many lives have been claimed over the years.
The practice is also popular in India, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Russia, and has seeped into Europe more recently.
In May last year, a young man died after attempting to ‘surf’ the top of a Paris metro train.
READ MORE HERE: Thrill seeker dies 'train surfing' on Paris Metro
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