(Warning: This video may be upsetting to many.)
A video of a man jumping from a building to his death is making rounds on Facebook in Kenya.
“Italian Billionaire commits suicide by throwing himself from 20th Floor of his tower after his entire family was wiped out by coronavirus,” its caption reads.
Is this true? We checked.
A reverse image search of a screenshot from the video reveals that it was published online as early as 11 August 2015, with a different claim.
Covid-19 was first reported in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, according to the World Health Organization.
A Google search with the words “Italian Billionaire commits suicide by throwing himself from 20th Floor of his tower after his entire family was wiped out by Coronavirus” returns several fact-checks that point to a suicide at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Philadelphia, US.
Another search for “Man jumps from Embassy Suites Hotel in Philadelphia” brings up articles from 2015 detailing an incident involving a 37-year-old man.
Locating the Embassy Suites Hotel in Philadelphia on Google Maps and then using Street View, Africa Check was able to pinpoint the exact location where the video was shot. – Dancan Bwire
A video of a man jumping from a building to his death is making rounds on Facebook in Kenya.
“Italian Billionaire commits suicide by throwing himself from 20th Floor of his tower after his entire family was wiped out by coronavirus,” its caption reads.
Is this true? We checked.
Photo nearly five years old
A reverse image search of a screenshot from the video reveals that it was published online as early as 11 August 2015, with a different claim.
Covid-19 was first reported in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, according to the World Health Organization.
A Google search with the words “Italian Billionaire commits suicide by throwing himself from 20th Floor of his tower after his entire family was wiped out by Coronavirus” returns several fact-checks that point to a suicide at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Philadelphia, US.
Another search for “Man jumps from Embassy Suites Hotel in Philadelphia” brings up articles from 2015 detailing an incident involving a 37-year-old man.
Locating the Embassy Suites Hotel in Philadelphia on Google Maps and then using Street View, Africa Check was able to pinpoint the exact location where the video was shot. – Dancan Bwire
For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false
A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?
Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.
Publishers guideAfrica Check teams up with Facebook
Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.
The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.
You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.
Further Reading
People crossing river at South Africa-Zimbabwe border? No, photo taken in Lesotho
A photo shared on Facebook in January 2021 shows people crossing a muddy river while others watch from either side.
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