RIGA, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Posters warning about a venomous spider species invading Latvia amid hot weather appeared at public transport stops in the Latvian capital city Riga on Monday morning, authorities informed, stressing that the posters were spreading sheer disinformation.
The posters featured a picture of the spider Tegenaria Agrestis, a warning that a bite of the critter can be lethal and an advice to call the Latvian Health Inspectorate or emergency number of 112 if someone came across the arachnid.
The Health Inspectorate said they never released such information and reported the fake alert to the police.
Representatives of the Riga municipal police said that intentional spreading of such false alerts was an administrative offense punishable with fines of 35 to 210 euros for individuals and 700 to 7,000 euros for legal entities.
They also said the man who pasted the posters at the transport stops was captured on CCTV and was now being sought by the law enforcement authorities.
Voldemars Spungis, a researcher at the Faculty of Biology at the University of Latvia, commented that the poster had been made by someone either completely incompetent or intent on spreading fake news, as Tegenaria Agrestis was not venomous and could not be found in Latvia.
