Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
A video, showing several vehicles crushed by a pillar, has gone viral, with users claiming it to be from Thane on February 15. We have received this claim on our Whatsapp tipline too.
Fact check
Newschecker first ran a keyword search for “Thane pillar collapse”, which did not throw up any credible news reports.
We then ran a reverse image search of keyframes of the video, which led us to this news report by the Newsminute, dated February 25, 2021, stating that a man was arrested for spreading fake news that the Hyderabad-Balanagar flyover collapsed.
Comparing the screenshot of the viral clip with the photo featured in the news report, we learnt that it is the same video. According to the police, the video was from 2018 when a flyover collapsed in Varanasi of Uttar Pradesh, killing 18 people.
We then came across this Indian Express report, dated May 15, 2018, on the Varanasi flyover collapse. “At least 18 people were killed and three were rescued after a portion of an under-construction flyover collapsed in Varanasi’s cantonment area on Tuesday. According to the police, several people are still feared buried under it,” read the report. Similar news reports can be seen here, here, here and here, confirming that the viral video is of the 2018 incident, when two pillars of a flyover had collapsed in Varanasi’s Cantt area, bringing a huge slab of concrete down, crushing cars and a local bus under it.
Conclusion
Video of a flyover collapse in Varanasi in 2018 falsely shared as an incident in Thane on February 15, 2023.
Result: False
Sources
The Newsminute report, February 25, 2021
Indian Express report, May 25, 2018
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
