A tweet by a parody news account of Asian News International (ANI) called 'INA News' claiming a 'bomb test' in a mosque in Karachi, Pakistan has killed 15 scientists and injured 10 people, has gone viral with many Twitter users believing it to be real.
Click here to view the tweet and here for an archived version of it.
The tweet from the parody account received over 1000 retweets and over 500 comments at the time of writing this story.
While some users pointed out that it was a parody account, many mistook the account to be that of ANI, an Indian news agency.
A Facebook page named 'The Fearless Indian' shared a screenshot of the tweet by the parody account with the caption "पाकिस्तान के 15 वैज्ञानिक हूरों से मिलने चले गए.. ", which roughly translated to "15 scientists from Pakistan have gone to meet virgins".
Click here to view the post and here to view an archive.
The post had gained around 1,500 reactions and 389 shares as of writing this piece.
Even a cursory look at the comment section suggested that people had believed it to be real.
FACT-CHECK
Interesting News Agency (INA), is a parody account of ANI with a disclaimer in its bio stating that it is "Not ANI" and is a parody or satire handle.
The account was set up on July 15, 2018 and had over 1,200 followers so far. The URL " .pk" provided in the description of the account is defunct.
Additionally, the parody account's logo is a mirror image of ANI's logo.
BOOM did a Google reverse image search of the picture showing the aftermath of a blast in a mosque and found the same photo on Getty Images, a stock images website. It was shot by photographer Aamir Qureshi.
The picture is from May 7, 2004, when a suspected suicide bomb attack at a Shiite mosque at the Sindh Madrassah Islam, a government-run religious school, in Karachi killed 14 and wounded over 125. Most of the victims were said to be adults who were at the mosque for Friday afternoon prayers, Associated Press reported.
"A police explosives expert at the site of the blast said he had found no timing or radio devices, indicating the blast have been caused by a suicide bomber," reported AP.
Parody accounts of news handles are a big menace on Twitter with several unsuspecting Twitter users routinely falling for them. Read BOOM's coverage on it here, and here.