Published 20:31 IST, April 8th 2020
Fact Check: Is the picture of a 13-year-old boy in UK passing away due to COVID-19 real?
Fact check: A picture that is making rounds on the social media is of a boy named Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab who is the youngest in the UK to die of coronavirus
The fatalities due to COVID-19 has been increasing day by day as a number of people contracting the disease has also increased. A recent post by news agencies in the United Kingdom claimed that a 13-year-old boy in the UK became the youngest person to pass away due to coronavirus. There are many posts that also include a picture of the boy, but these pictures have raised the question of authenticity about the news.
Claim:
The posts made on social media portals like Twitter and Facebook claim that a young boy of 13 years of age named Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab passed away from coronavirus. He is said to be a schoolboy from Brixton and allegedly breathed his last at the King's College Hospital in London. He became the youngest person to die in the UK. The picture below shows a news portal updating the news with the picture that is being circulated on the internet.
Rating: Fake
While the unfortunate news of a 13-year-old boy in the UK passing away is true, the picture being circulated is fake. The picture belongs to a boy named Conor Wilmot from Ireland. Conor passed away in 2017 due to a tragic suicide.
The picture circulated is that of Conor Wilmot and not Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab
Origin:
A UK news source had reported the death of Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab on April 1, 2020. It also talked about how the parents of Ismail had shared that he had no underlying health issues. Ismail became the youngest person in the UK to lose their life due to COVID-19.
The picture that is being circulated with the above news on social media is that of Conor Wilmot. An Irish newspaper had reported Conor's death, claiming it to be because of the dangerous Blue Whale challenge that became famous in 2017. Conor had taken his own life after he got bullied to do say, as claimed by his father. The Sixmilebridge family shared their horror as Conor's sister talked about how they are devastated to see people using Conor's picture for news. The family had to suffer another tragedy as Conor's father Greg had also passed away in 2018, the news source reported.
Here is a picture of the report shared by the Irish Times in the year 2017 about Conor Wilmot:
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Updated 20:31 IST, April 8th 2020