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  • 2022-02-17 (xsd:date)
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  • Photo shows child rescued in Syria after 2018 air strike — not 'Moroccan boy trapped in well' (en)
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  • An image has been shared repeatedly on Facebook in posts that claim it shows a five-year-old Moroccan boy being rescued after he was trapped in a well for several days in February 2022. The claim is false: the image has circulated since 2018 in reports about a rescue operation by the White Helmets following air strikes in northwestern Syria; the Moroccan boy died despite the rescue efforts. The photograph was shared in this Facebook post published on February 5, 2022. The Sinhala-language caption translates to English as: Rayan — who was stuck in a dry well in Morocco — has been saved without any harm befalling him. Screenshot of the misleading post, captured on February 8, 2022 A five-year-old boy called Rayan fell down a deep well in a village in Morocco on February 1, 2022, sparking an around-the-clock rescue operation, AFP reported here . The image was shared alongside a similar claim on Facebook here and here . It also circulated with a similar claim in Arabic . However, the claim is false. Although rescuers succeeded to bring Rayan out of the well in the evening of February 5, the Moroccan royal cabinet later announced that the boy was dead. Furthermore, the photo actually shows a 2018 rescue operation following air strikes in northwestern Syria, not Rayan's rescue efforts. A reverse image search found this tweet, posted by the official Twitter account of the Syrian Civil Defense force, also known as the White Helmets, on August 11, 2018. The first photo is identical to the image in the misleading posts. Miraculously, 11 civilians including 4 children were rescued from under the rubble alive by the #WhiteHelmets as their search and rescue operations continue following the massacre on #Urem_Alkubra city yesterday. The number of dead civilians so far is 22. #Syria #Aleppo pic.twitter.com/rzI21B09BS — The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) August 11, 2018 The Twitter post reads: Miraculously, 11 civilians including 4 children were rescued from under the rubble alive by the #WhiteHelmets as their search and rescue operations continue following the massacre on #Urem_Alkubra city yesterday. The number of dead civilians so far is 22. #Syria #Aleppo. Urem Al-Kubra is a town located in northwestern Syria. Below is a screenshot comparison of the picture in the misleading post (L) and the Syrian Civil Defense's photo (R): Screenshot comparison of the picture in the misleading post (L) and the Syrian Civil Defense's photo (R) The same photo also appeared in this August 11, 2018, report from local broadcaster Syria TV about people rescued from the rubble following the Syrian regime's air raids in Urem Al-Kubra. It was also used as a file photo in another report from Syria TV about an attack in the northwestern part of the country in May 2019. The photo's caption reads: The dead and the wounded were pulled out from the rubble in the city of Urm al-Kubra. (en)
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