Jackie Chan death hoax hits Twitter

It seems that the reports of Jackie Chan's death have been greatly exaggerated. The Twitterverse was abuzz Tuesday night in Manila with rumors that popular Hong Kong-based superstar Jackie Chan had died. But Chan's Facebook and Twitter accounts quickly denied the rumors, saying Chan is "alive and well," and did not suffer a heart attack as rumored. "Jackie is alive and well. He did not suffer a heart attack and die, as was reported on many social networking sites and in online news reports ... Jackie is fine and is busy preparing for the filming of his next movie," reported his verified Twitter and Facebook accounts. As of 11pm on March 29, over 25,000 people had "liked" the message on Chan's Facebook account. Many in the Twitterverse likewise voiced relief that the rumors were unfounded. "(LOL ...) got a mini (heart) attack when I thought Jackie Chan had died.. yay my life is still complete!" said joanna8D‎. "People really need to stop with the death hoaxs.....Jackie Chan is alive and for people to say someone has died is really crazy!" said JustJay45‎. A story on the Courier-Mail news site said that "RIP Jackie Chan" topped Twitter's trending topics and triggered confusion. The Courier-Mail story also traced the hoax to a fake website made to look like Australian news website Yahoo!7News. Another such story on Chan's supposed death, as posted on a blog site, claimed that a hospital in Los Angeles reported Chan had died. The blog post claimed that Chan's busy schedule was causing extreme stress and putting too much pressure on his heart. The fake story even claimed that US President Barack Obama gave a personal tribute to Chan as "a man who can talk through the talent, is a constant reminder of the power of humanity. He will always be in our hearts a true inspiration that inspired many generations. First, Nate Dogg, then it is Jackie Chan." — TJD, GMA News