Synicated By PesaCheck
The image was captured at Heathrow Airport in London in June 2022.
This post shared on X (formerly Twitter) with an image supposedly of a room full of unattended luggage at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) is FALSE.
“JKIA. This is Kenya’s first international airport. Do we have a country?” reads the text accompanying the image.
On 1 November 2023, the media reported alleged harassment at JKIA by Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officials. The outrage comes in the backdrop of a directive that has been enforced by KRA to tax personal or household items worth $500 and above, whether new or used, by tourists visiting the country.
But does the image show the current situation at JKIA? We checked.
A reverse image search revealed that the photograph depicting a room filled with luggage was captured at the United Kingdom’s Heathrow Airport Terminal 2 on 17 June 2022. According to a spokesperson from Heathrow Airport, a technical glitch resulted in a buildup of suitcases, leading to certain passengers travelling without their luggage, while others encountered delays during check-ins.
Some passengers took to social media, expressing frustration about waiting for up to two hours at the baggage reclaim. However, later that day, the airport resolved the issue and began efforts to reunite passengers with their luggage.
PesaCheck has looked into a post shared on X (formerly Twitter) with an image supposedly of unattended luggage at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and found it to be FALSE.
This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.
By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context into posts they see in their social media feeds.
Have you spotted what you think is fake or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content.
This fact-check was written by PesaCheck fact-checker Naomi Wanjiku and edited by PesaCheck senior copy editor Cédrick Irakoze.
The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck managing editor Doreen Wainainah.
