Kelowna CBC reporter’s Twitter mistake pronounces Carlos Santana’s premature death

KELOWNA – The local host of CBC’s Daybreak South was forced to delete several tweets and apologize to the family of a world-famous musician today after mistakenly tweeting that Carlos Santana was dead.

On Thursday morning, Chris Walker, a reporter in the Kelowna office of CBC tweeted that Carlos Santana, the famous guitarist, was found dead in his car. Don't worry fans, Carlos Santana is alive and picking.

The tweet, which has since been deleted, did not cite any source, saying only that it was someone he trusts. A user who asked for more details received the following response.

An RCMP release Wednesday identified the victim of a car accident in Osoyoos as 65-year-old German Santana. Carlos Santana is 68. Walker suggested in later tweets that wasn't the source of his error. Regardless, he quickly realized his mistake and apologized.

But the tweet did not escape the notice of someone very close to the musician. His daughter Stella Santana tweeted shortly after that her father was in fact, alive and well.

Santana's management responded publicly on their Facebook page, much to the relief of fans, more than 8,000 of whom liked his post.

Walker could not be reached for comment.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infonews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.