A fake television report of a Russian invasion in Georgia has caused panic, sending worried Georgians rushing into the streets.
The newscast, aired Saturday night on privately owned Imedi television, said Russian tanks were headed for the capital Tbilisi and that Mikheil Saakashvili, the president, had been killed.
Local news agencies said the programme provoked widespread alarm and a record number of calls to emergency services. Multiple incidents of heart attacks and fainting also occurred but officials said on Sunday that no deaths had been reported.
A brief notice before the report said it was a "simulation" of possible events but the report itself appeared genuine and carried no warning it was a fake.
Using footage from Russian's assault on Georgia in August 2008, the newscast said some Georgian opposition leaders had sided with the invading Russian forces.
