Hanoi police on the lookout for person behind plane crash rumor at int’l airport

Police in Hanoi are tracking down the author of a Facebook post about a plane crash at Noi Bai Airport, saying they were images of a drill.

The city’s cyber crime unit has opened an investigation as authorities said the false information has affected the airport's operations and reputation, causing panic among the public.

A Facebook post on Thursday showed photos of a plane lying in a field surrounded by people and fire trucks. It said: “It rained so hard, a plane has crashed ... so terrible ... That's Noi Bai.”

Images from a Facebook post on Thursday, which said there's a plane crash in Noi Bai.

The post went viral within minutes. 

The authorities dismissed the information later the same day, saying those images were of a drill which happened some time ago.

Lawyers said the person responsible can be fined between VND20-30 million ($880-1,320) for providing false information, but the punishment can be as harsh as seven years in jail if there’s enough evidence to press criminal charges.

Police in Da Nang fined a Facebooker VND12.5 million last month as she was found spreading false information about child kidnapping. In August last year, a couple in Hanoi was also fined for posting on Facebook that Ebola had arrived in Vietnam.