NYC photo does not support child trafficking conspiracy theory

"New York City Central Park Tents were set up to treat the babies and children that were underground in cages. Pipes were placed inside tunnels for fresh air," says a June 4, 2023 tweet. "'A few and (sic) passed away from seeing the sun for the first time.' Quote from a nurse who was there."

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Screenshot of a tweet taken June 7, 2023

The same user said in another tweet that the supposed children were trafficked. It includes more pictures of the field hospital and tags Samaritan's Purse, a Christian humanitarian organization whose logo appears on the tents.

Similar allegations have circulated on Facebook and TikTok -- but they are false.

AFP photographer Bryan R. Smith captured the original image in March 2020, the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. While it does show Samaritan’s Purse volunteers, the tents were for patients suffering from the coronavirus.

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Volunteers from the International Christian relief organization Samaritan’s Purse set up an emergency field hospital for patients suffering from the coronavirus in Central Park across Fifth Avenue from Mt. Sinai Hospital on March 30, 2020 in New York ( AFP / Bryan R. Smith)

"We did not treat any children, including the population mentioned in the false statements referenced," a Samaritan's Purse spokesperson told AFP on June 8, 2023.

"We set up an emergency field hospital in Central Park to treat Covid patients as the number of cases in New York City put their hospital city well over capacity. We partnered with Mount Sinai Hospital there and exclusively treated adult patients with Covid."

Video taken by AFP and other local media shows the construction of the hospital in March 2020.

The United States had 192,301 documented Covid-19 cases by March 31, 2020, just a few weeks after the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic.

AFP found no evidence that children have recently been rescued from "underground cages" underneath New York City. Similar claims have circulated online for years in the United States and other countries, playing into long-running conspiracy theories about child sex trafficking.

More of AFP's reporting on Covid-19 misinformation is available here.