Ambulance attacked in Romania amid viral TikTok child-stealing hoax

The useful part

The ambulance driver was injured in the eye by shards of broken glass after the vehicle was attacked and required emergency surgery in Cluj-Napoca. The doctors said he suffered corneal damage and would need at least three months to recover. The incident began when the medical crew stopped after entering the locality to ask residents for directions to a patient's address.

How it works

• Police said the ambulance appeared similar to vehicles shown in TikTok videos spreading false claims that children were being abducted for organ harvesting and medical experiments.
• Acting Defence Minister Radu MiruИ›Дѓ urged Chamber of Deputies President Sorin Grindeanu to put forward for debate and rapid adoption a bill he submitted in March 2025 aimed at limiting the spread of...
• After the medical team collected the patient and began travelling towards Dej Hospital, where the patient was due to be transported, their route was blocked by a car.
• Several people reportedly got out carrying clubs and axes and began attacking the ambulance, accusing the crew of operating the alleged "black ambulance that steals children".

What to take from it

An ambulance crew was attacked with sticks, axes and stones in Recea Cristur, Cluj County, after false claims circulated on TikTok that an ambulance was being used to steal children, according to Romanian authorities and Curs de Guvernare.