In a picture that spread like wildfire on social media over the past few days, a “Moroccan” child appeared crying a dead donkey, following the drought, capturing the hearts of millions.
However, this photo that won the sympathy of many of the tweeters, which shows a child sitting on two plastic containers next to a donkey lying on the ground that appears to be dead, was said to have been taken in Morocco in the shadow of the worst drought in the country for nearly forty years.
One of the users commented on the communication sites on the photo, saying: “The tragedy of searching for water in the country (Avoca and Dallah),” in reference to Morocco.
In Yemen, not Morocco
But this scene is not in Morocco at all. Rather, the photo was taken in Yemen in 2020, and then published by a Yemeni journalist through his personal account on Twitter.
He attached the photo with the words, “A Yemeni child cries the donkey that his family relied on to transport water,” according to Agence France-Presse.
After the photo was widely circulated at the time, one of the followers of this story made sure to buy another donkey for the family and help it, according to local websites that published pictures of the child and his family.
A child carries more worries than his age!
He was crying for the death of his family donkey. The donkey was carrying water containers for this child’s displaced family.#Yemen. pic.twitter.com/1hFSi8OKwe— Ahmad Algohbary (@AhmadAlgohbary) November 16, 2020
False post with hundreds of posts
It is noteworthy that although the image is false, the publication received hundreds of posts from Moroccan local pages, and on social networking sites.
This coincided with a drought afflicting the Kingdom of Morocco, the worst in nearly forty years.
In response to the disaster, the Ministry of Interior has instructed local authorities to limit water distribution when necessary, and to prevent watering of green spaces and golf courses with drinking water.
