However, no survivors have been reported since Monday’s crash, and the image is from a deadly boat accident in July this year.
The misleading image circulated on Facebook within hours of Lion Air flight JT610 diving into the Java Sea.
The Boeing-737 MAX, which went into service just months ago, crashed 12 minutes after taking off from Jakarta airport.
All 189 passengers presumed dead Lion Air Flight JT 610 crash
Multiple Facebook posts with the misleading image, showing the baby being carried in a life vest, claimed it was taken shortly after the child was saved.
One of the posts – which was shared nearly 5,000 times in the first 24 hours after posting – gave in-depth but fictional details about the purported rescue.
“Thank God for saving this baby, a victim of the JT610 flight covered in life jacket by the baby’s mother,” the caption in the post said.
“Unfortunately, the mother has not been found until now. Please be patient, dear baby. Hopefully, you will become a religious child.”
Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Twitter that the baby was a survivor from a boat that sank in waters off Indonesia’s Selayar island on July 3.
Banyak postingan foto di media sosial bahwa ada bayi penumpang pesawat JT-610 yang selamat. Foto bayi ini adalah bayi yang selamat dari tenggelamnya kapal KM Lestari Maju, di Perairan Selayar, pada Selasa 3/7/2018. Jadi info tersebut adalah Hoax. Jangan menyebarkan hoax. pic.twitter.com/SziiS6Uoog
— Sutopo Purwo Nugroho (@Sutopo_PN) October 30, 2018
“This information is a hoax. Please don’t spread hoaxes,” Sutopo said in a tweet on Tuesday about the photo of the baby purportedly being rescued from the plane.
Thirty-four people died and more than 150 were rescued in the July ferry sinking. Indonesian media carried photos and videos of the baby in their July reports on the ferry disaster that confirmed Sutopo’s post.
