Misleading Video and Images Allege Rayan Was Taken to the Hospital
The Claim
Moroccan divers are shown in the video working to save Rayan, a 5-year-old Moroccan boy who became trapped in a well. The three other photos show the little boy after his life was saved.
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Emerging story
Social media users have circulated a video claiming it depicts Moroccan divers digging and working on saving the five-year-old Rayan who became trapped in a well.
Other users have shared three pictures during the rescue operation for Rayan, claiming they show the little boy after Moroccan rescuers saved his life and took him to the hospital.
Description: Users claim rescuers have saved Rayan on Friday.
Description: Users claim the picture shows Rayan in the hospital after saving his life.
Description: Social media users claim the image shows Rayan after taking him to the hospital.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar has investigated the claim and found it to be fake.
The video and the pictures are old and unrelated to the rescue mission for the five-year-old boy trapped in a 32-meter-deep well in Chefchaouen, northern Morocco.
Our team has found that the circulating video was uploaded to Youtube on 17th January 2022. It is unrelated to the rescue efforts for Rayan.
Photo description: The video is unrelated to the incident.
The first image circulating as Moroccan Civil Protection has saved Rayan’s life on Friday is also unrelated to the incident. It was posted on social media pages in August 2018, and it depicts a Syrian boy rescued from under the rubble after airstrikes on Idlib province northern Syria.
The second picture is also old, and it belongs to the 9-year-old Yemeni child, Rayan Al-Alouqi. According to the source, the kid died in August 2021 during surgery because of an anesthetic overdose.
Photo description: The picture is old.
The third picture is old and does not depict Rayan in the hospital. It was taken in February 2018 as it shows a Syrian kid in Ghouta, Syria. It was already posted to social media in the same period.
According to websites, the ongoing rescue operation of the little Rayan, who has been stuck at the bottom of a 100-foot-deep well for days, reached a very advanced stage after the divers were obliged to dig manually for long hours to avoid the risk of landslides.
Our team has already debunked pictures claiming they are related to the incident and has worked on a blog about numerous fake stories spreading during the rescue efforts for Rayan.
