UK PM Boris Johnson’s death: Pakistan's Dawn News broadcasts fake report

By Team Newsable | First Published Apr 9, 2020, 3:03 PM IST

In an embarrassing incident, one of Pakistan's premium news media outlets, Dawn News television ran a fake report, claiming British PM Boris Johnson had died.

Pakistan's premium news channel Dawn News ran a fake news report of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's death due to coronavirus infection, citing a fake BBC account on Twitter with just a handful of followers.

The claim:
In an embarrassing incident, one of Pakistan's premium news channels, Dawn News television ran fake news, claiming British PM Boris Johnson had died.

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Johnson remains in the intensive care unit at St Thomas’ Hospital in London, battling coronavirus. He was “responding to treatment”, according to a BBC report.

Attributing the report to 'BBC world service', the Pakistani news channel broke the story, only to realise that the 'breaking news' was picked up from a sham BBC news media Twitter account. The news flash in Urdu read, "UK PM Boris passed away."

Dawn News television runs false news of British PM's death, attributes it to BBC World Service. pic.twitter.com/NYXCqMbnoo

— Naila Inayat नायला इनायत (@nailainayat)

After realising that they have fallen for fake news tweeted from a fake BBC World account in the race to break news, the channel took the report down.

The fake BBC twitter handle Dawn News picked its breaking news from: pic.twitter.com/clYpVknoU2

— Naila Inayat नायला इनायत (@nailainayat)

The truth:
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved to the intensive care unit of a London hospital after his coronavirus symptoms worsened Monday, just a day after he was admitted for what were said to be routine tests.

10 days after he was diagnosed, the British PM was admitted to the hospital on late Sunday. “Over the course of this afternoon, the condition of the Prime Minister has worsened, and, on the advice of his medical team, he has been moved to the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital,” his office said in a statement.

Incidentally, Johnson’s pregnant girlfriend Carrie Symonds has also contracted coronavirus and is in self isolation.

The United Kingdom is one of the worst-affected countries by the virus. It has recorded over 60,000 positive cases and more than 7,000 deaths due to COVID-19.

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