Authors
Shaminder started off his career as a freelance journalist for a consulting and research firm. He has been a Political Strategist and Media Manager. Before joining Newschecker, he worked with various reputed media agencies like Daily Post India, PTC News.
A Facebook user shared a video that shows dead bodies being washed ashore at some unidentified beach. The caption reads, “Some countries are throwing coronavirus infected dead bodies into the seas. I advise everyone to stop eating seafood. The World is coming to an end.”
A two-minute long video is doing rounds on social media claiming that some countries are throwing coronavirus infected dead bodies into the seas. The viral video shows dead bodies being washed ashore at some unidentified beach.
The caption of the viral video reads, “some countries are throwing coronavirus infected dead bodies into the seas. I advise everyone to stop eating seafood. The World is coming to an end. Dear God, please intervene.”
We found that the video is viral both on WhatsApp and Facebook. Several readers sent the viral video to Newschecker’s WhatsApp helpline number for verification.
Fact Check
With the help of ‘InVid,’ we got multiple keyframes of the video. By using a reverse-image search on one of the keyframes, we found a video uploaded on the YouTube channel “Godspower Oshodin’, uploaded on June 19, 2019. We analyzed the viral video, and the video uploaded on YouTube from frame to frame and established that it is the same video.
The caption given in the video suggests that it is a video of African immigrants who lost their lives in the deadliest voyage to cross into Europe.
With the help of relevant keywords search, we found a postdated article published on an Arabic news website, which carried out the same video doing rounds on social media. According to the article, a boat carrying about 170 illegal African immigrants sank off the Libyan coast. However, the Libyan navy was able to rescue 17 of them.
Reverse Image search led us to a European news channel’s official YouTube channel ‘Euronews’, which carried a shorter version of the same viral video. The video was uploaded on August 25, 2014. The description of the video reads, “Amid tragic scenes on a Libyan beach, bodies of would-be migrants have been washed ashore. However, more than 100 have been recovered by the Libyan authorities. They are thought to be from a shipwreck at sea last week.”
Conclusion
It is evident from our fact check that the video doing rounds on social media has no connection with the coronavirus pandemic. The disturbing video doing rounds is of the bodies of African immigrants washing onto the shore of al-Qarbole, after a boat carrying 200 illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa sunk off the Libyan capital.
Tools Used
- Google Reverse Image Search
- YouTube Search
- Google Search
Result: False
(If you would like us to fact check a claim, give feedback or lodge a complaint, WhatsApp us at 9999499044. You can also visit the Contact Us page and fill the form)
Authors
Shaminder started off his career as a freelance journalist for a consulting and research firm. He has been a Political Strategist and Media Manager. Before joining Newschecker, he worked with various reputed media agencies like Daily Post India, PTC News.
