Man summoned by police over rumor of mermaid caught in central Vietnam

December 24, 2015 | 09:18

(0) user say

A local man has been required to work with police after circulating an Internet rumor that a mermaid was caught by fishermen in central Vietnam, as authorities do not think it is a harmless joke.

A man rescues a 'mermaid' out of a fishing net in this wedding photo posted by the photographer, Tu Nguyen, on his Facebook on December 18, 2015.<br /><span></span>

On Sunday, a story, contributed by a man whose byline was Trang Tran, was published at quangnamonline.com.vn, saying fishermen had “caught a 48kg mermaid” in Quang Nam Province.

The article, which was later removed along with the website itself, said that fishermen had noticed the legendary aquatic creature “occasionally enjoys sunbathing on nearby rocks,” so they had “used anesthetics and fishing nets to catch her.”

The false story even came with a photo, showing what looked like a mermaid inside a green fishing net, with the writer claiming that she was also admitted to a nearby hospital for treatment.

The mermaid story had quickly gone viral on the Internet and Facebook, before local authorities identified it was totally made up.

The 'stranded mermaid' in Hau's made-up story

The writer, later identified as Pham Dac Hau, admitted to police that he had used a photo in a wedding album of a newly-wed couple in Hanoi to create the story “out of fun.”

Hau, a Quang Nam resident, has been summoned to work with officers under the province’s internal security police, according to Vo Van Tho, deputy director of the provincial Department of Information and Communications.

The 37-year-old man admitted his wrongdoing to authorities, saying he only wanted to “create some fun.”

“The department is still working with him to establish his act and decide on the punishment as per the law,” Tho said.

The Hanoi couple shot their wedding album as a story of an adventurer who rescues a mermaid when she is stuck in fishing nets, and later marries her.

TUOI TRE NEWS

What the stars mean:

★ Poor ★ ★ Promising ★★★ Good ★★★★ Very good ★★★★★ Exceptional