Unusual/ MPs observed a minute's silence in Parliament for the "death" of the former chancellor, then they are shocked by what they find out

A fake news story on Twitter caused the parliament in Austria to observe a minute of silence for the "death" of the former Chancellor of Austria, Franz Vranitsky.

An MP from the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) was alerted to the fake tweet by a colleague who sent her a message via WhatsApp.

Then the SPO Parliamentary group called for a minute of silence in memory of the former leader of the Social Democratic Party at the meeting of the Social Affairs Committee.

Minutes later, the news of Franz Vranitsky's death was proven to be false and had been tweeted by a fake account allegedly belonging to conservative Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig.

In the meeting of the parliamentary committee, the necessary clarification continued and the explanations were given.

Franz Vranitsky was Chancellor of Austria from 1986 to 1997 and head of the SPÖ from 1988 to 1997. He celebrated his 85th birthday at the beginning of October.

According to foreign media, the Italian Tommaso Debenedetti, who has "died" countless Internet personalities, is behind the fake account on Twitter.