Claim: YouTuber Luke Damant, who was missing for days, has been found dead in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, three weeks after entering the country via Pakistan.
Fact: Damant is alive and has refuted the claim through his social media accounts.
On 5 January 2024, Facebook page ‘Crick Zone’ posted (archive) a picture of Australian YouTuber and travel blogger Luke Damant in a group, with the following caption:
“Famous Australian YouTuber Luke Damant has been pronounced dead in Jalalabad Afghanistan, he had been disappeared (sic) since he entered Afghanistan from Pakistan border 3 weeks ago.”
The post appeared in ‘A Group where we pretend to be single’, a public group that has over 97,700 members as of writing time.
Damant in Pakistan, foreign vloggers
Damant has visited Pakistan multiple times in the past, including in 2024, 2022, and 2021, and was in the country before claims that he was found dead in Afghanistan appeared on social media platforms.
Interestingly, while the vlogger claims to have “donated $3000 (GBP£1776) to Islamic Relief UK” during the 2022 floods in Pakistan, he has also been criticised for targeting poor people in different countries. In 2022, he was involved in an incident where he was allegedly defrauded by a man offering horse rides at Karachi’s Sea View, leading to that individual being arrested after the YouTuber uploaded a video about it.
Some users have sensed what they claim is a “pattern” of western travel vloggers, like Damant, who get poor people arrested. They also frequently travel to countries experiencing or emerging from turmoil to show them in a positive light.
One such example is the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, where Damant is currently traveling and where numerous foreign vloggers have gone to paint a picture brighter than the reality — a move criticised by locals as “whitewashing”. The number of foreign tourists in the country grew 10 times in two years from almost 700 in 2021 to 7,000 in 2023, according to The Associated Press.
Fact or Fiction?
Damant denied claims of his death on social media by posting a mock obituary (archive) that said the YouTuber died while “attempting the Guinness World Record for the most cheese paratha’s eaten in 1 hour” and “magically turned into one [cheese paratha]” after consuming 15 of them. He signed it off with his name, saying, “New video from Afghanistan out this Friday.”
View this post on Instagram
Apparently annoyed about the rumours, the vlogger then uploaded a series of stories on his Instagram account and nonchalantly denied them. He said, “I can’t believe I even have to make this post. Guys, I’m f***ing chilling! For years, I’ve been trying to say that the media fakes f***ing news and hundreds of thousands of people think I’m dead in a day. F***’s sakes!”
Damant “had nothing to do with this”, he said, before adding, “We took the holidays off… New Year’s, you know… had a little bit of fun. And all of a sudden, I’m dead!” He also talked about the “thousands” of “heartwarming messages” he received from people concerned about him.
Soch Fact Check, therefore, concludes that Luke Damant is not dead and the claim is false.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found the claim circulating here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here on Facebook. It also surfaced on X (formerly Twitter) here, where it was viewed over 99,200 times.
Conclusion: Damant is alive and has refuted claims of his death through his social media accounts.
Background image in cover photo: LukeDamantt
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