Video of a rally driver misrepresented as the 'sleeping prince' of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Khalid bin Talal has been in coma since a car accident in 2005, BBC News Arabic reported (archived link).
The TikTok video shows a man in a hospital bed surrounded by men in Saudi national dress.
Similar videos have also been shared on TikTok and Facebook, racking up more than 3.7 million views.
But the video does not show the "sleeping prince."
Keyword searches on Facebook and TikTok led to an April 16 video captioned "Yazeed al-Rajhi", shared by an account that often shares clips of prominent Saudi figures (archived link).
The caption reads "Yazeed Al Rajhi" in Arabic, who made history by becoming the first driver from Saudi Arabia to win the Dakar Rally in January 2025 (archived here and here). Yazeed suffered a spine injury after an accident during a race in Jordan on April 12 (archived link).
Another TikTok post shared on April 16 shows the longer version of the clip, with overlaid text that reads, "His Excellency Ahmed bin Suleiman Al-Rajhi, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development" in Arabic (archived here and here).
An AFP journalist covering the Middle East confirmed the videos show Yazeed in his hospital bed meeting the minister.
The official Facebook account of Yazeed's racing team and CNN Arabic also published photos of him receiving other visitors in hospital wearing the same shirt (archived here and here).
As of July 15, there are no official reports that the Saudi prince has awakened from his coma.
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