Authors
Vaibhav is a part of Newschecker’s English team, where he spots and debunks all kinds of misinformation, making the rounds on the internet. A Journalism graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, he holds an M.A degree in Philosophy and an M.Phil from Delhi University.
Amid the torrential rainfall and flooding in Assam that has reportedly caused at least 9 deaths, a video of a family of three being washed away as they try to cross a bridge has gone viral claiming it to be a recent video recorded in Assam with some captions stating “Present Situation in North East India”.
Newschecker found the video to be old and unrelated to the recent floods in Assam.
The video shows a crowd on both sides of a semi broken bridge with water gushing underneath it. The bridge collapses just as a man, woman and child try to cross it to get to safety and get washed away as chaos ensues.
Facebook user ‘ZEME TIMES’ shared the same video which had garnered over 3,700 views and 48 shares at last count.
Newschecker found similar claims with similar captions shared on Facebook.
As the rains wreaked havoc in Assam, Assam State Disaster Management reported that 27 districts in the state have been affected by the torrential rainfall and flooding. More than 6.62 lakh people have been affected by the flood while the death toll has reached 9. Social media has been abuzz with misinformation and unsubstantiated claims with visuals claiming to show the effects of the torrential rains.
Also read: Video Of Bridge Collapse From Indonesia Passed Off As Visuals Of Assam Floods
Fact Check/ Verification
We started by conducting a reverse image search on Google and found that the images similar to the ones in the video as part of a news report by Deccan Chronicle titled, Chasing life woman, child meet with death in Bihar uploaded on 19th August 2017.
The news report stated that families were taking turns crossing a bridge on river Kosi as floods ravaged Bihar in 2017. The incessant flow of the river weakened the foundation of the bridge and some people fell into the fast-flowing river.
A longer version of the video is available on Youtube uploaded by user ‘Md Mahtab Alam‘ on 18th August 2017, titled ‘Araria, Bihar Flood – Women sank in river with daughter.’
In the longer version, the minutes leading to the incident and the aftermath can be seen. The longer video shows many people crossing the same bridge before it collapsed and the family of three get washed away with it.
Upon conducting a keyword search with the words “Bihar”, “flood”, “bridge”, and “collapse”, Newschecker found a news report by NDTV titled 3 Swept Away As Bridge Collapsed In Bihar. Tragedy On Video uploaded on 20th August 2017. The news report contained the same viral video- allegedly from the Assam floods.
NDTV’s report stated that the incident took place in Bihar’s Araria district. The district reportedly accounted for 30 deaths in the floods that hit Bihar in 2017 that affected over 1.08 crore people across 17 districts and killed over 150 people in Bihar and parts of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, and Nepal.
Conclusion
Newschecker’s investigation reveals that the viral video claiming to be recent and from Assam was shot in 2017 in Araria, Bihar and is being shared falsely connecting it to the recent floods in Assam.
Result: False Context/False
Our Sources
Deccan Chronicle report, Chasing life woman, child meet with death in Bihar (August 19, 2017)
NDTV report, 3 Swept Away As Bridge Collapsed In Bihar. Tragedy On Video (August 20, 2017)
Youtube video by channel Md Mahtab Alam (August 18, 2017)
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Authors
Vaibhav is a part of Newschecker’s English team, where he spots and debunks all kinds of misinformation, making the rounds on the internet. A Journalism graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, he holds an M.A degree in Philosophy and an M.Phil from Delhi University.
