An article claiming that the person responsible for a mishap during the Sochi Olympics Opening Ceremony was found dead of stab wounds is actually just satire.
It was published on the Daily Currant, which only publishes fake news.
“The man responsible for operating the Olympic Rings during last night’s Winter Olympic Opening Ceremonies in Russia was found dead today,” the article reads. “According to local reports the body of T. Borris Avdeyev was found his hotel room early this morning with multiple stab wounds.”
The article had more than 31,000 shares on Facebook and 6,000 tweets.
According to its disclaimer, the Daily Currant isn’t a real news publication.
“The Daily Currant is an English language online satirical newspaper that covers global politics, business, technology, entertainment, science, health and media. It is accessible from over 190 countries worldwide - now including South Sudan,” it says. “Our mission is to ridicule the timid ignorance which obstructs our progress, and promote intelligence - which presses forward.”
It adds: “Our stories are purely fictional. However they are meant to address real-world issues through satire and often refer and link to real events happening in the world.”
A large number of people appeared to believe the content of the Olympics article.
“Omg don’t mess with Russia and their Olympics!!!” tweeted one user.
Added another: “Olympics are like 2 days in and it’s already crazy’ ‘Man Responsible For Olympic Ring Mishap Found Dead In Sochi.”
Following the glitch, Russian Olympic officials defended the move to use rehearsal footage to cover up the mishap, Sky News reported.
About 40,000 spectators in the stands saw the error, but Russians who saw it on TV couldn’t see it.
Only four of the five rings materialized in a wintry opening scene. The five were supposed to join together and erupt in fireworks. But one snowflake never expanded, and the pyrotechnics never went off. But everything worked fine for viewers of the Rossiya 1, the Russian host broadcaster. As the fifth ring got stuck, Rossiya cut away to rehearsal footage. All five rings came together, and the fireworks exploded on cue.
“It didn’t show on television, thank God,” Jean-Claude Killy, the French ski great who heads the IOC co-ordination commission for the Sochi Games, told The Associated Press.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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