Grenfell Tower fire: Fake story about miraculous baby found alive in flat sparks widespread anger

'What kinda sicko spreads a fake story about baby surviving Grenfell fire after 12 days'

(PA)

A story about a miracle baby being rescued from the 16th floor of Grenfell Tower has angered social media users who shared it before finding out it was fake.

Using a BBC "breaking news" image, a link to the story then sent people to a website bearing a "Metro" logo. Neither organisation had anything to do with the story.

The author claimed that both London's Metropolitan Police and Mayor Sadiq Khan had confirmed the baby's survival.

A quick glance through Twitter confirmed neither the police nor Mr Khan tweeted about a baby being found alive 12 days after the devastating fire.

But on social media, some users bought in the heartwarming story.

The fake news story was published on a website that looks like Metro

Jeg Sverger tweeted: "They found a baby in the wreckage of the Grenfell Tower still alive 12 days later, im sobbing thats amazing”

Nicholas Burley also wrote: “Baby rescued from grenfell twelve days after disaster- god really does work miracles x”

When it appeared that the story was fake, social media users were furious at the trolls, who used the Grenfell disaster, in which 79 people died, to spread misinformation.

Kerry Darbyshire tweeted: "What kinda sicko spreads a fake story about baby surviving grenfell fire after 12 days. Despicable animals."

But this is not the first time a disaster has been used to spread fake news.

Following the Manchester attack, Twitter trolls also shared images of people who were supposedly missing.

However, people who recognised themselves said they were not at the concert and had not been caught up in the attack.