"The young people were heard and said that the episode was nothing more than a joke between friends and following bets," said the source, adding that "even so" all information related to the case will be sent to the Public Ministry.

On Wednesday, several media outlets came forward with the news of a video circulating on social media in which a group of young people could be seen grabbing the head of another, who was on his knees, being forced to breathe the smoke coming out of an exhaust pipe.

“The seven young people were heard and all statements were consistent. All of them, including the one who is filmed breathing the exhaust smoke, said that everything was just a joke and that it was of free will”, he added.

The recording was made, according to the same source, on Monday, 17 February, in the Greater Lisbon area.

In a statement, the PSP indicates that several citizens sent the police a video that had gone viral on the 'internet' and in which a young man was taken by others to approach the exhaust pipe of a functioning vehicle.

“Because it was possible to see in the video that someone was accelerating the vehicle insistently, causing the smoke coming from it to be projected against the face of the young man who kept it next to the exhaust pipe, the PSP immediately started a summary investigation in order to understand where, with what people and what is the context of making the video”, is mentioned in the note.

Although the participants, aged between 22 and 25, said it was a joke, the PSP, and because the young man seen in the video may have suffered injuries due to the inhalation of the smoke, he will transmit the entire investigation to the Public Ministry, to assess the possible framing in the context of criminal legislation.