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.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Fish flopping around on the floor of a flooded supermarket in Chennai after cyclone Michaung.
The archived version of the tweet can be seen here. We received this claim on our Whatsapp tipline (9999499044), too, requesting us to fact-check it.
Fact
Newschecker ran a reverse image search of keyframes of the video, which led us to this Youtube video, dated February 5, 2018, stating that the incident happened in Tbilisi, Georgia, where “At shopping time, suddenly the aquarium broke. All the fish were on the floor. Working personnel were trying to save the fish.”
We then came across this Daily Mail report, dated February 12, 2018, sharing the video and stating, “…an aquarium tank shattered in a supermarket in Georgia leaving fish wriggling helplessly around the tiled floor. Dozens of the helpless creatures were left flapping around in the shallow water in the aisle as staff at the Carrefour retailer in Tbilisi desperately tried to catch them in nets.” Similar reports can be seen here and here, confirming that the viral video is not related to the December 2023 floods in Chennai, triggered by cyclone Michaung.
Also Read: Old Video Of House Collapsing Into River In Kerala Falsely Linked To 2023 Chennai Floods
Result: False
Sources
Youtube video, ViralHog, February 2, 2018
Daily Mail report, Feburary 12, 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.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
