We woke up to the news of Queen Elizabeth II dying, but quickly realized that it was a hoax. Such hoaxes are not uncommon on social media, as a lot of people jump to conclusions without verifying the facts. 

Even though the 90-year-old Queen is still very much alive, we now know what will happen after she dies. Since death is inevitable, all the plans have already been laid down in advance. “London Bridge is down,” will be the code word that will be used to announce her death, and black armbands will be worn around the world. 

In India too, there have been several death hoaxes. Let’s take a look at a few of them. 

Farida Jalal

As obituaries were flowing all over Twitter, the veteran actress came forth to  deny the rumour of her death that had been doing round and declared that she is ‘hale and hearty.’  

“I don’t know where these baseless rumours are coming from. Initially I laughed, but from last 30 minutes my phone has been constantly ringing and everybody is asking the same question. It’s a bit irritating, I wonder why people spread such rumours,” the Kuch Kuch Hota Hai actress said in a statement.

Like all other death hoaxes, there is lack of clarity about the root cause of this rumour. 

Shashi Kapoor

The last notable victim of the viral death hoax was this Kapoor clan old hand. Almost immediately though, his nephew Rishi Kapoor took to Twitter to announce that his uncle ‘is doing well’ and ‘this puts an end to all speculations.’

Dilip Kumar

The legendary Bollywood actor has now become accustomed to being the subject of these rumours. He has been declared dead by social media thrice, but thankfully has managed to live out all of these hoaxes.

Amitabh Bachchan

Big B’s supposed death was backed by the story and fake images of a car accident in the US. Twitteratti not just started discussing the details of the gruesome crash, details about the ‘funeral procession’ also started coming in.

Honey Singh

Similarly, bogus images of the rapper on a stretcher accompanied the news of his reported demise in 2014. “News of YoYo’s accident is a fake rumour must be spread by some haters. Please don’t bother,” he had to refute.

Rajinikanth

After being admitted to the hospital for lung issues in 2011, the legendary South Indian actor was also declared dead by the grapevine. However, his wife soon assured the fans that he was alive and doing well.