As deadly floods ravaged large parts of China, an old photo surfaced in social media posts falsely claiming to show a heroic police officer collapsing after rescuing more than 50 people. The man in the photo is actually a police officer who reportedly fainted from exhaustion and heatstroke while searching for a missing hiker in 2020.
“After rescuing 51 people in a row, Yang Xuheng was swept away by huge waves and was missing for more than 10 hours,” it said in simplified Chinese. Weibo post who shared the photo on July 11.
Yang rescued another six people trapped in the floods, surviving thanks to his “excellent physical condition” and “strong survival instincts,” the report said.
“He is a policeman of the people, a hero of the people,” it added.
The photo, shared by an account with more than four million followers, shows a man in a police uniform lying on the ground.
The photo made the rounds on the Chinese video platform Douyin as well as on YouTube after floods in North and Southwest China killed at least 20 people and dozens missing, state media reported.
China is experiencing a summer of extreme weather, with heavy rains in the east and south, while much of the north suffers from successive heat waves.
Many social media users thought the photo showed a police officer involved in rescue efforts after the flood.
“Bravo! You are the one who touched everyone’s heart in China this year,” read one of the comments.
“The best news I heard this year,” said another.
Rescue of hikers
However, the photo was taken during a rescue operation of a lost hiker four years earlier.
A reverse image search found the image in a report from August 6, 2020 by Chinese state television channel Hunan TV Economic (archived link).
The caption of the photo identified the man in the photo as Huang Huimin. It was said that he fainted from exhaustion and heatstroke during a search for a missing 73-year-old hiker.
Several police officers were exhausted and injured during the four-day rescue operation in the mountains of Hunan province, the report said.
Below is a screenshot of the photo shared in fake news (left) and in the Hunan TV report (right):
Meanwhile, the heroic police officer described in social media posts is another man who reportedly saved 51 people during the 2021 floods in China’s Henan province.
Yang Xuheng disappeared for 10 hours after being swept away by heavy rain on July 20, 2021, Chinese state media The Paper reported reported (archived link).
The newspaper published a photo of Yang (left) at the scene of the rescue operation.
That summer, 398 people died in catastrophic flooding in Henan province, causing economic damage of more than $10 billion.
