Vancouver model misidentified as Manchester bomber's sister
Postmeda News
First posted: Friday, May 26, 2017 05:00 PM EDT | Updated: Friday, May 26, 2017 06:25 PM EDT
A Vancouver model has set the record straight after mistakenly being linked to the Manchester, England, bombing at an Ariana Grande concert this week.
Janice Joostema spoke to
Global News BC to explain how she was incorrectly identified by two Italian newspapers as the sister of the suicide bomber. As a result, Joostema has received a number of messages from strangers asking about her involvement.
“When I first found out about it I started actually reading all the messages I received,” Joostema told Global. “[They were from people] saying ‘this is what’s going on’ and ‘are you the terrorist?’
"People who don’t know me but, of course, the people who do know me know it’s not me of course,” she said.
Joostema said the newspapers didn't look into her or who she is before posting her photos on their website. The photos have since been removed and Joostema is considering legal action, Global reports.
According to The Independent, another model has also been incorrectly identified as the suspect Salman Abedi's sister.
Maya Ahmad is a popular Lebanese makeup artist whose photo, along with Joostema's, had been posted by Abedi's sister Jomana Abedi on her own Facebook page. Those photos were then pulled off her Facebook page and featured in various news stories before the error was pointed out.
Joostema is a 22-year-old Vancouver-born and raised model of Fijian and Dutch descent. She has 1.2 million followers on
Instagram and has a
YouTube channel, devoted to fashion.
The blast, following pop star Grande's Monday night show has killed at least 22 people, including an eight-year-old girl.
Janice Joostema. (Janice Joostema/YouTube video screenshot)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTgh2Hpj0sg
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