LISBON: False claims online that Pakistani migrants were responsible for damaging a historic monument in Portugal are completely baseless, local police said.
According to Reuters news agency, a September 18 social media post on X, seen 2.5 million times, falsely claimed: “The Sao Lazaro Cross in Portugal, constructed in 1386, was damaged yesterday by Pakistani immigrants.”
The post also included picture of the damaged monument. However, Braga’s Public Security Police said that there is nothing to link migrants to the damage, saying that the cause remains unknown.
VERDICT
There is no evidence to support the false claim of the social media post. Similarly, the Padrao de Sao Lazaro was damaged in the month of July, not September, and there is no solid evidence it is the result of an action carried out by migrants, police said.
