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Dublin: 3 °C Thursday 28 March, 2024
apocalypse now?

A Scottish newspaper is seriously reporting a 'zombie outbreak'

People are confused as to whether it’s the real deal. Well…

COULD THIS BE the end? Could all those predicting the eventual zombie apocalypse actually be right? Er, not really.

An article from the Scottish local paper Motherwell Times reporting a ‘zombie outbreak’ in the town of Lanarkshire is currently doing the rounds on Twitter.

zombies

The article, which appeared in the News section of the paper’s website, claimed that patients at the so-called Ledbetter Research Facility suffered ‘adverse reactions’ to a drug for encephalitis (inflammation of the brain).

It said the patients had been roaming the streets:

Patients displaying ‘zombie like features’ have spent the last 24 hours terrorising locals and causing chaos on the roads… The volunteers in question have become completely unresponsive and are prone to violent outbursts.

It ends quite calmly with an appeal for anyone who comes in contact with a ‘patient’ to ring a special number.

Everyone was instantly confused. And somewhat too ready to fight the zombie menace.

So what is really going on here? 

A quick Google search shows that there is no Ledbetter Research Institute near Lanarkshire, or in fact anywhere.

It also reveals that the phone number people have been told to call to report ‘sightings’ is actually the number of a local theme park, M&D’s. Hmm.

The park has a few special events scheduled for the run-up to Halloween, one of which is… a zombie survival ‘experience’. HMM.

outbreak Scotland's Theme Park Scotland's Theme Park

A reporter from the Motherwell Times told the Independent that the article was indeed intended to be promotion for the theme park, with a ‘reveal’ article to go live tomorrow. They also mentioned that a couple of people had called the Motherwell Times offices to check if the outbreak was real.

We’ve all learned a valuable lesson here: Don’t just report a ‘zombie outbreak’ as if it were the real deal. Please. For the sanity of the human race.

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