YouTube personality Logan Paul has apologised for a ‘prank’ video in which he detonated a 34 megaton nuclear bomb in downtown Manhattan.

The video, which has received 4.8 billion views since being posted on Friday, shows Paul hiding a warhead in a family picnic basket and detonating it remotely. A reaction video posted on his second channel has been viewed 3.2 billion times.

An estimated 7.2 million people were killed in the blast, with the number likely to rise exponentially in the coming months. Paul’s actions have been widely condemned as excessive.

His apology, posted on Twitter yesterday, said: “I’m really really sorry about the NY prank :(.” Paul has since donated $2,000 to the Red Cross and encouraged his followers to give what they can.

Some of Paul’s fans have taken to social media to defend him, dismissing the international response to his actions as a witch hunt. “Omg he said sorry leave him alone,” one user tweeted on Saturday. “We all make mistakes.”

When approached for comment, YouTube representatives said they are currently investigating whether Paul’s actions breach community guidelines.