Italian TikTokers fake being ill to hitch lift in ambulance

Two Italians who faked being ill to hitch a ride to the nearby town in an ambulance before posting footage of the episode on social media will be prosecuted, police said Friday.

Their video on TikTok—captioned "When you're out in the countryside and there's no public transport"—racked up over 50,000 views in just one day.

The footage, shot Sunday by the 19 and 20-year-old men, starts with one of them saying "We're lost in the middle of the countryside, and now we're solving the problem."

One contacts the emergency services and says his friend has fainted, while the other can be seen lying on a bench stifling laughter.

The pair then filmed the arrival of the ambulance, which took them to the seaside town of Riccione in northeast Italy, where they spent a brief amount of time in the accident and emergency department, according to ANSA news agency.

Police identified them from the video and said they would be prosecuted after the regional health agency filed a complaint.

"I'm an idiot, I shouldn't have done that," one of the men was quoted as telling the local Il Resto del Carlino daily. (AFP)