A possible terror attack has claimed the lives of at least 19 people at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester. Here are the claims you shouldn’t believe about the incident.

There was not a gunman outside Oldham hospital.

The Daily Express and Daily Star ran articles claiming a gunman had been spotted outside The Royal Oldham Hospital, which is situated on the edge of Greater Manchester – eight miles away from Manchester Arena, where the apparent terror attack took place.

Despite their headlines, which were quickly shared on social media, the stories were all seemingly sourced back to one incredibly viral Facebook post claiming a man was outside the hospital with a gun.

Daily Express

However the local police force confirmed that they went to the hospital only to find no offences had taken place and concluded all patients were "safe and well".

Facebook

The Daily Express later updated their story with a new headline denying the original claim about a gunman. The new version of the article included a stern quote from Oldham council saying the local authority has "no information" to support the idea a gunman was present while urging people to "only trust or share official sources of information".

Twitter

This man was not caught up in the apparent terror attack at Manchester Arena.

This image went viral after being posted by a Twitter account connected to the GamerGate movement. It attracted thousands of retweets and dozens of comments from people trying to help the user find their "son" who had been at Manchester Arena and offer him a place to stay.

In reality this image appears to be a photograph of a YouTuber who posts videos under the name ReportOfTheWeek. As is often the case after terror attacks, trolls are keen to spread false images and cause trouble by exploiting the desire to help others during a crisis. Several similar fake tweets featuring photos of supposed missing persons have also gone viral in the aftermath of the incident.

Twitter

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