Watch Alabama prisoners' film 'mannequin challenge' from inside jail using contraband phone

An investigation has been launched into how a group of prisoners were able to use a mobile phone to film themselves taking part in the latest viral internet craze. Dozens of inmates at an unknown Alabama jail did not let incarceration prevent them from taking part in a 'mannequin challenge', filming the social-media hit with a contraband mobile phone smuggled into the facility.

During the minute-long clip, prisoners can be seen posing perfectly still while also pretending to fight and stab each other, exercising and praying.

The video has been viewed tens of thousands of times since it was first posted on Facebook last week (13 November 2016). It is not clear what prison the video was filmed in nor how the inmates got the mobile phone, reported AL.com. Using a smuggled phone inside a state correctional facility is considered a Class C felony.

Alabama's Holman Prison was recently in the news for riots allegedly in protest of overcrowding and substandard living conditions.

Alabama Department of Corrections spokesperson Bob Horton has said they are now investigating the source of the video. Horton added more than 3,000 illegal mobile phones from Alabama prisons since January.

The mannequin challenge is the latest internet video trend, with the three members of Destiny's Child, Adele and even Hilary Clinton among those who have taken part. Several sports teams have also uploaded their versions of the challenge, including NFL's Dallas Cowboys and German football team Borussia Dortmund.

England football striker Jamie Vardy used it as part of his celebration after scoring into a 2-2 draw with Spain at Wembley, London on Tuesday (15 November).