Posts on social media have claimed the death of a man in an explosion on a residential street in Rotherham was linked to an attempted terror attack.
But there’s no evidence to support the claims—South Yorkshire Police have said that counter terrorism police are not involved in the investigation and the man’s death on 29 September is not believed to be related to any criminal action.
Police reportedly previously said the explosion was believed to have been caused by a “household accident”, though they’ve since said investigations are ongoing.
A video posted on Facebook the day after the explosion shared claims that the man who died had “COVERED himself in explosives” and suggested in a caption that the incident was linked to “an attempted terror attack on a children’s park”. Another Facebook post described the incident as an “attempted suicide bombing”.
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The posts were shared after local media reported that a man had been found dead when emergency services were called to reports of an explosion at Clifton Mount.
A South Yorkshire Police spokesperson told Full Fact that they were aware of rumours circulating on social media about the explosion and reminded members of the public “not to speculate or share unsubstantiated rumours about the incident”.
They said: “To confirm, Counter Terrorism Policing is not involved in the investigation… The death is not believed to be related to any criminal action, and no evidence of a crime has been uncovered.”
Police have since named the man who died as 60-year-old Rory Costello, also known as Rory Conway, and said investigations into the circumstances are ongoing, with a referral submitted to the coroner.
We’ve found no other credible evidence or media reports that support the claims that the incident was related to an attempted terror attack.
It’s important to consider whether what you are seeing online comes from a trustworthy and verifiable source before sharing. Our misinformation toolkit contains tips on how to do this.
