[View the story "Dispatches from Sana'a, Yemen" on Storify ]Dispatches from Sana'a, Yemen Citizen journalists in Yemen and netizens abroad rush to fact-check the reported death of a young activist. Storified by The Stream · Wed, Oct 26 2011 21:59:47
مواجهات الحصبة صنعاء 23-5-2011znmemo
A Nightmare is taking place in #Sanaa and it will eventually get WORSE!! #Yemen #GCC #EU #US #SaudiimothanaYemen
can see black smoke rising from the Ministry of Interior in Sana'a #yementomfinn2
Trying to find out what the gunfire is all about. #yemen #yfiiamelii
After gun battles broke out on Monday between supporters of President Saleh and Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar, netizens on the ground in Sana'a rushed to check each other's safety.
Was detained by Saleh security forces for the past 2 hours!They wanted to arrest me and got knows what else.managed to get out! #yemen #yfRajaAlthaibani
It was the most terrifying experience,2 be locked&forced to sit in a barbershop as a war breaks lose outside the door!Bombs,RPGs! #yemen #yfRajaAlthaibani
@RajaAlthaibani I am glad you're safe and back home. I told you it's too dangerous to go thereimothanaYemen
Atiaf Alwazir, otherwise known as blogger WomanFromYemen , tweeted constant updates.
Gun shots heard in diff. places in #sanaa.. in Hasabah we know between who, but in other areas still unclear #yemen #yfWomanfromYemen
is anyone in hasabah now? is there a way for me to get there or roads completely blocked? #yemenWomanfromYemen
unconfirmed report: gun shots in #Arhab between tribes & republican guards, can anyone confirm this? #yemen #yfWomanfromYemen
our peaceful revolution may go down the drain & struggle turned into a personalized war w/innocnet ppl suffering the consequences #yemen #yfWomanfromYemen
Im so mad, citizen security at one entrance of sq refused to let me in for fear of my safety. They said no women tonight #yemenWomanfromYemen
so far the fighting is still personalized b/w both sides...no civil was just yet.. lets hope it stays that way #yemen #yfWomanfromYemen
At one point, rumours started spreading about the death of an activist named Ghania Ali al-Aaraj, prompting the hashtag #weareallghaniaali .
Just came back frm Berlin garden in #Sanaa few minutes after gov thugs burned a female activist "Ghania Ali" I saw fire,was horrible! #YemenAlaaAjJarban
Had a horrible evening, I was at the same place minutes after gov. thugs burned the activist #Ghania Ali. #weareallghaniaali #Yemen #SanaaAlaaAjJarban
A flurry of reactions instantly spread around the world.
RT @justimage: RT @imothanaYemen RIP: Ghania Al-Araj, a woman Human Rights activist burned to death by the thugs in #Sanaa today http://twitpic.com/518uqiusamasheriff
What price freedom for Saleh? The burned body of a Yemeni female woman, at the hands of those who'd no right to bear arms #weareallghaniaalihabibahamid
How can this happen?! @al_masani reporting #Saleh thugs burned to death #Yemeni woman Ghania Ali http://t.co/Se3hcAN #weareallghaniaalimonaeltahawy
Does #international #community know that Saleh thugs burnt Yemeni #girl #ghania with #fire #alive ? #Yemen #unhrc #un #world #women #crimetrueone2
Some requested confirmation.
Is the news of the activist #Ghania being burnt alive, true? Any news? Please confirm if true. #Yemen #yfNoonArabia
Can anyone confirm whether female activist Ghania Ali was really burned by #saleh thugs a little while ago?? #yemen #sanaaRajaAlthaibani
To be clear, haven't seen official confirmation about Ghania Al-Araj being burned to death by pro-regime forces in #Yemen.iDiplomacy
One concerned netizen tweeted us at The Stream to get the news out.
#weareallganiah Ganiah was a female protester burned to death by pro-govt thugs in Sanaa #yemen today . 2 news agencies confirm. @ajstreamal_masani
Earlier today, several claimed that Ghania was in fact alive and that she had been assaulted.
Ghania is reported to be alive, suffered some injuries, probably assaulted, but not burnt to death as per earlier reports. #Yemen #yfNoonArabia
#WeAreAllGhaniaAli #Yemen Ghania was assaulted but is alive. Tires were burnt nearbye and screams could be heard - the cause of the mix-upal_masani
This led to a conversation between journalist Tom Finn, noonarabia, and several other users over the importance of confirming such alarming news before retweeting.
@NoonArabia surely people should be criticizing Suhail TV for gross mis-reporting on this story? #yementomfinn2
@tomfinn2 @NoonArabia it's your typical "victimized muslim female" story, spreads like wildfire bc it draws a lot of attention.iiamelii
@iiamelii @NoonArabia @WomanfromYemen @Rooj129 we can't just blame Suhail, people on twitter also responsible for spreading unsourced newstomfinn2
@tomfinn2 @NoonArabia @WomanfromYemen @Rooj129 absolutely. someone even created a fb page. pple got caught up in the idea of it.iiamelii
@iiamelii i'm afraid you were part of ittomfinn2
@tomfinn2 my crew wanted to run a story on her. seems she was assaulted. not exactly newsworthy when youre in the middle of a revolution.iiamelii
plzzzzzzzzzz everyone, dont post or spread things until you are 100% sure about them or else it discredits us afterwards #yemen #yfWomanfromYemen
