Rice wrote on Monday "Today is a somber day in Nigeria, as Chinua Achebe was laid to rest in his native village."
— ChristianChristensen (@ChrChristensen) March 23, 2015
But Achebe died two years ago.
Rice was widely criticized for falling for such a social media hoax despite Achebe’s prominence and the attention he received in 2012, when she was assistant undersecretary of state for African Affairs.
The Nigerian icon’s New York Times obituary began circulating over the weekend, indicating that he just died.
Realizing she had fallen victim to a rumor, Rice quickly took down her tweets and reposted one that acknowledges her mistake.
— Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) March 23, 2015
Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor and critic. He wrote “Things Fall Apart,” and “Arrow of God,” two landmarks of the 20th-century fiction.
He died on March 21, 2013.