Frida Sofia, 12-Year-Old Mexican Schoolgirl Allegedly Trapped Under Earthquake Debris, Was Fictional

There was outrage in Mexico after it was revealed Thursday that a "trapped school girl" that rescuers spent more than 36 hours to save from the rubble of a collapsed school building in quake-hit Mexico City never existed.

The efforts to rescue the girl, who was reported to be 12 years old and identified by the name Frida Sofia, from the rubble of the collapsed Enrique Rebsámen School had captivated Mexicans, who were looking for a ray of hope in the devastation left behind by the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that struck the country Tuesday.

The rescuers tirelessly scanned every inch of the collapsed school, where it was claimed that Sofia studied. The story was given credence by the assertion of some naval officers assisting in the search, who said they saw the girl moving her hand.

Earlier, heat sensors had detected considerable activity underneath the debris, leading people to believe that a small child was trapped there, and was still alive.

However, it was revealed that there was no such girl trapped in the rubble when Enrique Sarmiento, the navy assistant secretary, declared Thursday morning that all the children in the school were accounted for. Eleven children were found alive and 19 of them had died.

“We want to emphasize that we have no knowledge about the report that emerged with the name of a girl,” Sarmiento said, the Guardian reported. “We do not believe – we are sure – it was not a reality.”

Sarmiento also added that there was evidence of only one person still being stuck under the rubble, but that was mostly likely to be a member of the school staff and not a child.

“All of the children are, unfortunately, dead or safe at home,” Sarmiento said, Los Angeles Times reported.

Government officials also confirmed that no girl by the name of “Frida Sofia” was registered at the school.

One of the major red flags surrounding the story was the lack of details regarding her identity. All the news outlets covering the incident reported her name as Frida Sofia, stating that her full name had not been disclosed.

Some of them reported that it was the name communicated by the trapped girl herself to the workers, who were present at the scene.

Even her age was up for debate, with some sources reporting her to be 12 years old and some calling her 13 years old.

Another curious fact was that no one could contact Sofia parents or relatives. While many guardians of the children who studied at the school refused to leave the scene of rescue without finding out their kids' fates, no relatives of Sofia turned up, despite the buzz surrounding the story.

A number of Mexican news outlets had set up camp at the scene, broadcasting the event live to thousands of Mexicans who were glued to their TV watching the rescue as it unfolded. Prayers started pouring in on Twitter from people who hoped for the girl’s safety.

Hence, it was only natural that the nation, which had tuned into their television sets, refusing to go to sleep until Sofia was rescued from the rubble, felt duped after finding out that the little girl they prayed for never existed.

“People are angry,” said Esteban Illades, editor of the Mexican magazine Nexos. “Frida was the story.”

“The federal government always told us there was a girl and they were about to rescue her. Now they changed their version. Outrageous,” Carlos Loret de Mola, another Mexican News reporter tweeted.

#FridaSofia had started to trend on Twitter after the news of the rescue efforts was relayed across the world, with many people praying for the little girl.

f

But as soon as it was revealed that Sofia never existed, enraged Twitter users started branding state-run media as “fake news,” especially targeting news outlet Televisa, which first shared the report of the trapped girl.

One user also referred to a similar case during an earthquake in Mexico in 1985, when reports of a kid being trapped under the rubble turned out to be fake.