Fake news forum evacuated over gas leak in Madrid

A gas leak in Madrid’s city center sparked an evacuation that disrupted a forum on fake news.

Police stopped traffic and told several buildings to evacuate as authorities dealt with the leak. One of the buildings evacuated was the Circulo de Bellas Artes, where a forum on fighting fake news was being held.

‘Fake News: How to fight false news in Europe’ was attended by international media, social media giants and politicians who were forced outside mid-forum. Attendees included Spanish Vice President Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.

Of course, it wasn’t long before the Russians were blamed for the leak, as someone joked that the gas leak must have been the work of Russian hackers. Other attendees joked about the gas leak itself being fake news.

The leak occurred when work was being done in an underground carpark, Madrid’s emergency services said. The problem was soon fixed and the emergency services announced everything was back to normal.