WELLINGTON (AFP) – New Zealand police have denied rumours which spread via social websites that actor Jeff Goldblum had died in a fall while making a film in the country.
Police said they had been inundated with media calls after entertainment websites carried the rumour which was also spread through networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
One Twitter post read: "Los Angeles in shock with sad strange trifecta of Michael Jackson, Jeff Goldblum and Farrah Fawcett," referring to the deaths on Thursday of the pop star and the former television actress.
New Zealand police and Goldblum's agent confirmed the star of films including "The Fly" and "Jurassic Park" is alive -- much to the relief of some users of the micro-blogging site.
"It's a hoax, so there is still hope for a real "The Fly" sequel with Jeff Goldblum," a later Twitter post read.
The hoax death reports have appeared before, with both Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise rumoured in recent years to have died while filming in New Zealand.
The latest reports on entertainment websites said Goldblum had fallen to his death while filming at Kauri Cliffs, a golf course in the country's far north.
US media reports quoted Goldblum's agent as saying the actor was fine and in Los Angeles.
Persistent media inquiries about the Internet reports brought a terse response from Northland police, with Inspector Kerry Watson saying: "There is no such incident and police have no information to provide."
Twitter's real-time messages of 140 characters or less can be accessed using personal computers, mobile telephones and dozens of custom-built applications such as the popular Tweetdeck.
(Source: Yahoo! News)
