Reading a news story about your own death may sound like the plot of a Stephen King novel,angels of sex (2012) - video clip but for Irish comedian Dara Ó Briain it was very much real life.

The TV star is currently in Australia for a few days performing stand-up.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

On Wednesday, though, one of his fans alerted him to some alarming news from back home.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Yep: according to the "News 360", Ó Briain had died "in a tragic car crash" back in Dublin.

"An Irish stand up-comedian and television presenter, Dara Ó Briain passed away early hours of this morning after the vehicle he was travelling with fell into a ravine along the Patrick Street in Dublin city centre after colliding with a government vehicle," reads the first paragraph of the story.

Ó Briain's response was on-point.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

So what's actually going on with that news article, then?

Well from the looks of "News 360", it appears to be one of a growing number of sites that generate fake news stories in what's presumably an attempt to target SEO traffic and local shares.

Searching the site name and the term "tragic car crash" brings up a number of similar stories, for instance.

It's a strange world.

[H/T The Daily Edge.]