The first picture is from Frankfurt, Germany that was taken in 2014 for an art project and the second picture is taken from Hollywood film Contagion that was released in 2011. Both the picture has nothing to do with Italy and Coronavirus.
Two photographs are being shared on social media with the claim that both the picture are from the worst affected country of Coronavirus, Italy.
A picture is being shared on Facebook in which people lying on the road are seen with a claim that the picture is from Italy.
A user name Barakallahufik Ameen posted "This is china people are falling dead like locusts china called Islam a virus and worked very hard to extinguish it in its country, they banned the Quran, they banned praying, they banned the hijab, they banned fasting. Today every single Chinese in the world has become a suspect of the worst virus on the planet. I do feel sorry for the innocent Chinese people but this is the work from its government and its time for the Chinese people to rise against its oppressive government. Indeed, the vengeance of your lord is severe".
We also received a request to verify the claim.
A Facebook page name Jharkhand memes shared a picture in which some people are seen burying the dead bodies. The text written on the photo translates as in Italy, no friend, family member or neighbor is going to the funeral of the dead., 'This is a viral epidemic. Before walking out of your homes, look at this picture carefully. Be responsible! '
We found that the viral picture has nothing to do with the coronavirus. Actually this photo is from Frankfurt, Germany. The photo was, taken in 2014, is part of an art project that tried to depict the Nazi concentration camp.
After doing revers research of the image we found the original image is available in the stock photos of Reuters in which it is clearly written that this picture is from 2014.
The photo was captioned as, People lay down in a pedestrian zone as part of an art project in remembrance of the 528 victims of the Katzbach Nazi concentration camp, in Frankfurt, March 24, 2014. The inmates of the Katzbach concentration camp, a part of the former Adler industrial factory, were forced into a death march to the concentration camps of Buchenwald and Dachau on March 24, 1945. Some 528 victims of Katzbach are buried at Frankfurt's central cemetery.
Second Image
After doing the reverse image search on Google, we found that the picture is a screengrab from the Hollywood film Contagion released in 2011. It has nothing to do with the deaths caused by coronavirus in Italy.
we found a review article of the film Contagion on the website named Basement Rejects. This review was published on January 14, 2014, in which the same image can be seen. Contagion is a 2011 film about a deadly worldwide virus outbreak and the story of this film closely matches the current coronavirus outbreak.
However, according to the article of the Reuters "Everywhere the coronavirus has struck, regardless of culture or religion, ancient rituals to honor the dead and comfort the bereaved have been cut short or abandoned for fear of spreading it further. The health authority is advising mortuary workers to put face masks on dead bodies to reduce even the minor risk of infection. In Italy, a funeral company is using video links to allow quarantined families to watch a priest bless the deceased".
In conclusion, the first picture is from Frankfurt, Germany that was taken in 2014 for an art project in remembrance of the 528 victims of the "Katzback" Nazi concentration camp, in Frankfurt. The second picture is taken from Hollywood film Contagion which was released in 2011. And both the picture is being shared incorrectly by linking it to the coronavirus outbreak in Italy.
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Himani Joshi
Contact: @@Himani_joshi200
Bachelor of Journalism & Mass Communication
It often happens with us all, that we hear news, sometimes it sound unusual, sometimes we also know that this news can’t be true but because the news is all over the place, we eventually believe it. How many of you have heard news about mob lynchi...
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