Cek Fakta: Burung Gagak dan Citra Satelit Merah di Wuhan, Ini Faktanya

Cek fakta Liputan6.com mencoba menelusuri kebenaran informasi mengenai burung gagak yang berkumpul di Kota Wuhan untuk mencari mayat korban virus corona.

Penelusuran dilakukan dengan menggunakan mesin pencari google dengan memasukkan kata kunci "crow wuhan". Hasilnya ditemukan sebuah artikel yang membantah kabar burung gagak berkumpul di Wuhan karena mencari bangkai manusia.

Artikel berjudul "Fears 'death crows' are feasting on coronavirus corpses as thousands swarm over Wuhan" yang diunggah situs dailystar.co.uk.

Artikel tersebut menjelaskan bahwa tidak ada bukti kuat untuk mendukung teori bahwa burung gagak mencari mayat.

Thousands of crows have been spotted flying above coronavirus-hit Wuhan, sparking online fears the birds are feasting on the corpses of the dead.

Footage believed to have been taken by Wuhan residents from inside the Chinese city appears to show a large group of crows eerily flying around the empty streets.

The black birds can be seen swarming Wusi Road in the Chengxi District of Wuhan before resting on the road and pecking at the road beneath them.

In a separate clip, a massive swarm of the dark creatures have been snapped in Xining City, prompting Chinese social media users to speculate as to why they are in the province.

Some believe the crows are "looking for dead bodies" to eat while others have said the birds may be "feeding on particulates" from the "clouds of human remain ash falling to the ground."

There is no strong evidence to support the theory that crows have been looking for dead bodies. The fears have arisen partly because the crow is seen as a symbol of death in Chinese culture.

Sharing the footage to Twitter a user said: "Wuhan people noticed there have been lots of crows flying around the city, quite frightening.

"They are probably looking for dead bodies... looking to feed".

Another wildly claimed: "Crows are there to carry the souls of the dead to their final resting place".

A third questioned: "What are the crows going for?

"Human meat?"

Others believe the swarm could be down to "uncollected garbage" or from "dead insects" that have died due to the "chemicals sprayed on the streets.

One Twitter user said: "It could be garbage that's been uncollected but whatever it is it isn't a good sign."

Another wrote: "Could be eating dead insects from all the chemicals sprayed on the streets".

A third said: "They're here for the smell of death."

Disturbing accounts from inside the city allege crematorium workers are being forced to work in makeshift protective suits and masks as they handle bodies.

An insider reportedly said: "90 percent of our employees are working 24/7 … we couldn’t go back home.”

“All Wuhan cremation chambers are working 24 hours.”

The speculation comes after the National Health Commission in China ordered all coronavirus fatalities to be cremated, with burials and funerals banned, to prevent to spread of disease.

After footage emerged of an eerie fog clouding Wuhan, Chinese nationals voiced their concerns and suggested the death toll could be "unthinkably higher" than reports claim if incinerators are running all day.

In Chinese culture crows often symbolise bad luck and death with a three-legged crow embedded deep in East Asian Mythologies.

Crows, ravens, black birds, owls and phoenixes can all symbolise death.

The birds can also represent the spirit world, the afterlife, spirituality, or the death of a loved one.

Penelusuran selanjutnya dilakukan untuk membuktikan klaim foto satelit merah di Kota Wuhan karena kremasi mayat korban virus corona. Foto satelit ditelusuri dengan menggunakan google images, hasil terdapat beberapa artikel yang menjelaskan mengenai foto tersebut.

Satu di antaranya yang dimuat situs metro.co.uk dengan judul artikel "Maps showing sulphur dioxide predictions mistaken for Wuhan cremation pollution".

Dalam artikel itu disebutkan bahwa foto satelit berasal dari situs windy.com. Namun, windy.com mengkonfirmasi bahwa mereka memprediksi kadar nitrogen dioksida dan sulfur dioksida selama akhir pekan mendatang dan bukan catatan peristiwa yang menggambarkan Kota Wuhan saat ini.

Social media rumours about the scale of cremations being carried out in the city at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak have been debunked. Maps were released showing sulphur dioxide (SO2) levels over Wuhan.

It was suggested that they were satellite images from windy.com and the colourful cloud was as a result of bodies being incinerated. However, windy.com confirmed that they were predictions for nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide over the coming weekend and not records of real-time events.

They gathered their information from Nasa which pointed out that the maps do not ‘assimilate real satellite data’ into their forecasts. The data showed that levels were predicted to be at 1,350 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3) over the weekend.

More than 440 cases have been confirmed outside mainland China, including two deaths in Hong Kong and the Philippines. Britain has declared the virus an ‘imminent threat’ and said it would forcibly detain infected people if necessary.

The number of confirmed cases in the UK has doubled from four to eight. A previous version of this article reported claims of ‘alarming levels’ of CO2 above Wuhan which were based on ‘satellite images’ that had been captured at the weekend.

The article has been substantially amended, and we are happy to make clear that the images prompting the speculation were not satellite images taken recently, but instead were based on predictions of CO2 density modelled on weather patterns and using fixed emission inventories. It is not possible for this data to show up sudden changes such as those caused by a mass cremation.

Tidak ada bukti kuat untuk mendukung teori burung gagak mencari dan memakan bangkai manusia korban virus corona di Wuhan. Sedangkan foto satelit merah tidak ada kaitannya dengan kremasi mayat korban virus corona di Wuhan.

Narasi yang disebarkan situs media-umat.com tidak sesuai dengan fakta sebenarnya.

Data: Eka M

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