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Back from the Dead

French broadcaster apologises for 'killing off' Queen Elizabeth and Clint Eastwood

The station said a “technical problem” caused the notices to be released.

FRANCE’S PUBLIC BROADCASTER RFI has apologised after mistakenly publishing obituaries for a number of celebrities who are still alive.

The list included Queen Elizabeth, Brazilian football hero Pele and actor Clint Eastwood.

The station cited a “technical problem” that caused the death notices to be released on its website earlier today.

“We offer our apologies to the people concerned and to you who follow and trust us,” the broadcaster said in a statement.

“We are mobilising to rectify this major bug.”

Others declared dead included Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, former US President Jimmy Carter, Cuban leader Raul Castro, and actors Sophia Loren and Brigitte Bardot.

French business mogul Bernard Tapie, 77, whose obituary had been prematurely published by other news outlets at least twice before, was also on the RFI list.

- © AFP 2020

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French broadcaster apologises for 'killing off' Queen Elizabeth and Clint Eastwood

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