'Russia invasion' news stirs panic-Bogus TV report of Russian invasion panics Georgia

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EUROPE
'Russia invasion' news stirs panic

"Russian tanks have invaded Georgia and the country's president has been killed."

That is what Imedi TV, one of Georgia's most popular television channels, reported on Saturday night. It also broadcasted video of what appeared to be the Russian army in the country.

In reaction, many Georgian residents rushed into the streets in panic and emergency services were flooded with phone calls. Even a number of heart attacks were reported to have occurred.

But when the broadcast turned out to be untrue, widespread panic across the country turned into anger.

The pro-government channel later apologised, saying it was a mock newscast to show "what the worst day in Georgian history might look like". It also said it "should have clarified" that the programme was a fake TV report.

Relations between Russia and Georgia remain tense nearly two years after the 2008 war between the two countries, in which more than 200 Georgians died.

Al Jazeera's Matthew Collin reports from Tbilisi, the Georgian capital.

Panic was sparked in Georgia after a TV station broadcast news that Russian tanks had invaded the capital and the country's president was dead.

The Imedi network report, which brought back memories of the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia, was false.

But mobile phone networks were overwhelmed with calls and many people rushed onto the streets.

Imedi said the aim had been to show how events might unfold if the president were killed. It later apologised.

The head of the holding company which owns Imedi TV, George Arveladze, said he was sorry for the distress that the TV report had caused.

'Disgusting'

For a brief moment on Saturday evening many Georgians thought history was repeating itself, the BBC's Tom Esslemont in Tbilisi says.

It is only 18 months since Russian tanks came within 45km (28 miles) of the Georgian capital, our correspondent adds.

In its news report, pro-government Imedi TV showed archive footage of the war and imagined how opposition figures might seize power after an assassination of the country's President, Mikheil Saakashvili.

Although the broadcast was introduced as a simulation of possible events, the warning was lost on many Georgians, our correspondent says.

One local news agency reported that emergency services had received an unusually high volume of calls in the ensuing minutes.

And once calm returned, the report was seen by some as a poorly disguised swipe at the Georgian opposition politicians who recently travelled to Moscow to meet Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Mr Arveladze told Reuters that the aim was to show "the real threat" of how events might unfold.

That did not stop dozens of journalists and angry Georgians who gathered outside the Imedi TV studios to protest.

One opposition politician who was there labelled the report "disgusting".

MEDIA HOAXES
1926 - mass anxiety after a BBC report of a murderous riot in London. It was a spoof by a literary priest
1938 - thousands flee after a CBS Radio report on Martians landing in New Jersey. It was a radio version of HG Wells War of the Worlds
1994 - panic in Taiyuan, China, after a TV report of a deadly creature on the loose. It was a commercial for a new brand of liquor