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.

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. 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.

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".

The attack has prompted renewed calls from the government for legislation addressing disinformation and harmful content on social media.

Acting Defence Minister Radu Miruță 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 manipulative and illegal content on social networks, according to Euronews.

"The law against disinformation must be adopted! I submitted it to Parliament in 2025. It passed tacitly in the Senate and is blocked in the Chamber of Deputies," Miruță said.

(Photo: Cateyeperspective/ Dreamstime)

iulian@romania-insider.com