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.
Claim
Photo of Greece refugee boat tragedy that killed at least 78 people, while hundreds are feared dead.
Fact
Image was found to be of a migrant boat that capsized off Libya in May 2016.
Several social media users and some media outlets are sharing a photo of a sinking boat, claiming that it is of the June 14 deadly shipwreck off southern Greece, involving a large boat carrying migrants that capsized after apparently rebuffing offers of help.
The archived versions of the tweets can be seen here and here.
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The Greece Boat Disaster
At least 78 people have been confirmed dead and hundreds more are reportedly feared missing in the deadliest refugee shipwreck off Greece this year. The victims, nearly all of them men from Afghanistan and Pakistan, drowned when the large trawler they were travelling in capsized off the southern Peloponnese, read a Guardian report. Pakistani daily The Nation stated that the shipwreck killed an estimated 298 Pakistan nationals. More than 300 Pakistani nationals have been killed in the sinking of an overcrowded fishing trawler off the coast of Greece, read a CNN report, attributing the numbers to the chairman of Pakistan’s Senate, Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani, while adding that Greek authorities have yet to confirm Pakistan’s death toll.
Fact Check
Newschecker ran a reverse image search, which led us to this May 25, 2016 NDTV report, featuring the same photo. “Migrants are seen on a capsizing boat before a rescue operation by Italian navy ships off the coast of Libya on May 25, 2016,” read the caption. A New York Times report, dated May 26, 2016, featured the same photo, stating hundreds of migrants were tossed into the sea when their ship overturned off Libya.
According to a Washington Post article, dated May 25, 2016, titled “Photos show moments before a migrant boat capsizes off Libya”, a crowded boat carrying migrants headed for a new life in Europe capsized off the coast of Libya …At least seven people are believed to have died. “The Italian Navy was on hand and said it was able to rescue about 500 people from the sea. The Navy also released pictures that show the moment the ship capsized and its own efforts to rescue the passengers,” stated the report, featuring a set of four photos released by the Italian Navy that shows the shipwreck of a crowded boat. The top-right photo in the Washington Post repost is the one that has been linked to the recent Greece boat tragedy. A similar article by Time, dated May 25, 2016, can be seen here, confirming the viral image is of the same incident.
The photos of the Greek boat that sank recently, as seen in the reports by major news outlets, such as Al Jazeera, Reuters, further confirm that the viral image is not related to the recent boat disaster.
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Conclusion
2016 photo of capsized boat off Libya falsely linked to 2023 Greek boat disaster.
Result: False
Sources
NDTV report, May 25, 2016
Washington Post report, May 25, 2016
Time report, May 25, 2016
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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.
