China locks up 2 for quake rumours: reports
Posted 14 minutes ago
China’s state-run media reports that two people have been detained for allegedly spreading rumours about the earthquake that hit the country’s south-west, killing more than 14,000 people.
The two people, from Chongqing province next to quake-hit Sichuan, have been ordered to be held for three days, Xinhua news agency quoted the Chongqing Public Security Bureau as saying.
Xinhua says one of them, surnamed Tang, released a picture on an internet forum purporting to show many Sichuan residents escaping the quake.
But police found Tang’s picture was actually of a crowd celebrating an event linked to the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan.
The other, surnamed Jin, is said to have posted a picture of a department store building on an online forum and claimed its roof had collapsed. Police discovered the collapse never occurred.
Earlier this week, the Chinese government warned that anyone found spreading false rumours about the quake would be punished.
- AFP
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/15/2245068.htm?section=world
ruh roh!