Fake TV report panics Georgia residents

Residents of Georgia were left terrified this week when a news channel claimed that the country's president had been killed.

According to BBC News, the piece on the Imedi network also said that Russian tanks had invaded the capital.

Producers later explained that they had been attempting to show what might happen if the president was killed.

Although the piece was introduced as a simulation, many Georgians missed the warning and believed the broadcast was real. Calls to emergency services reportedly surged, while mobile phone networks were overwhelmed with calls and residents rushed onto the streets.

The broadcast included archive footage from when Russia invaded Georgia 18 months ago before suggesting what would happen if opposition figures seized power.

Imedi, which is pro-government, was later accused of broadcasting the simulation as a criticism of opposition figures, who recently met Russia's prime minister Vladimir Putin.

Several journalists and Georgians later protested outside the channel's studios, with one politician describing the broadcast as "disgusting".

The head of the holding company which owns Imedi, George Arveladze, claimed that the report was intended to show "the real threat" of what might happen but apologised for any distress caused.