Date: April 19, 2015PETALING JAYA: A viral video showing a graveyard spewing mud and fire is not from the Batu Pahat Chinese cemetery in Johor, say police.
“An investigation of several Chinese cemeteries in Batu Pahat failed to confirm that such an incident occurred,” said Bukit Aman police assistant secretariat Datin Asmawati Ahmad in a statement Sunday night.
However, police acknowledged that such phenomena does occur in other countries.
“Such phenomena exists in Pingtung, Taiwan, where mud volcanoes spew mud and natural gas which erupt once or twice a year. The fires are started deliberately by locals to burn off emissions,” she said.
Asmawati advised Malaysians not to spread false news because it could generate “negative speculation”.
However, a search by The Star Online later revealed that the video was actually shot in Taiwan by its state Central News Agency as coverage of the mud volcano eruption at Xinyuan Township in Pingtung, Taiwan, on Jan 28 this year.
According to the article, the mud volcano erupted within the cemetery and flooded a cornfield nearby, damaging the farmland.
The footage of the viral video can be seen from the one-minute mark onwards.
