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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Disasters & emergencies fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about disasters & emergencies. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

3,259 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYDisasters & emergencies

Visuals of water entering a bus in Bangalore during the recent floods

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

FACTLY examined a social-media video showing water entering a bus, shared with a Kannada caption meaning “This is the situation in Bangalore.” The specific claim was that the footage showed the recent Bangalore floods. The review concluded that the clip was old and unrelated to those floods, rather than footage establishing flooding in Bangalore.

dpaDisasters & emergencies

Sept morts dans un accident de la route, à Tournai.

Publisher’s rating: Danger : arnaque répétitive, qui a déjà été à de nombreuses reprises dénoncée par la dpa. La photo est très ancienne (2011). Les auteurs du message ne visent qu’à extorquer les données privées des personnes qui leur répondraient, en vue d’en abuser.

The post described a fatal crash in Tournai on 27 August 2022 and invited people with information about the victims to follow a link. The review found that the linked page imitated Facebook and asked users for personal details, including login information. It warns that providing those details could expose them to misuse, including financial abuse and fraudulent posts made in their names. The central check concerned the image attached to the post. The review traced it to a 2011 publication by La Dernière-Heure-Les Sports, where it illustrated a crash in Soumagne, in Liège province—not an accident in Tournai, in Hainaut province. It also notes the image had appeared in La Libre in 2019 with a caption identifying a serious crash on rue du Fort in Cerexhe-Heuseux. The image therefore does not substantiate the claimed Tournai crash.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturDisasters & emergencies

Durch bewusste Wetterbeeinflussung gab es in der Stadt Bursa in der Türkei Überschwemmungen.

Publisher’s rating: Weder für Chemtrails, noch für eine systematische Wetterbeeinflussung durch HAARP-Anlagen gibt es wissenschaftliche Belege. Auch gibt es keine Hinweise, dass das sogenannte «Cloud-Seeding» für die Überschwemmungen in der Türkei verantwortlich ist.

The claim concerned flooding in Bursa, Turkey, and a social-media post attributing it to three forms of deliberate weather manipulation: HAARP, chemtrails, and cloud seeding. The review confirms that flooding occurred in mid-August: heavy rain left streets underwater in parts of Turkey, including the Bursa region. It then examines whether the proposed methods could account for the rain. (The post’s allegations are described as “Laut einem Facebook-Post sollen dafür gleich drei verschiedene Methoden der angeblichen Wetterbeeinflussung verantwortlich sein: Sogenannte «HAARP»-Anlagen, «Chemtrails» und «Cloud Seeding».”)

Fact CrescendoDisasters & emergencies

मध्य प्रदेश के गांधी सागर डैम में कुछ युवक पिकनिक मनाने गये थे। उनमें एक युवक डैम की दीवार से फिसलकर पानी में गिर गया। पानी में मौजूद मगरमच्छ ने उसपर हमला किया और उसकी मृत्यू हो गयी।

Publisher’s rating: False

FACTLYDisasters & emergencies

Scientifically unexplainable or supernatural car crashes

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The review examines a social-media video depicting cars apparently crashing into empty space, which the post presents as something science cannot explain. It reports that the car-crash clips were taken from *Ghost Crash*, a short film by Italian visual-effects artist Donato Sansone, and that the apparent unexplained crashes were digitally created. [S1: “The clips of various cars crashing into thin air are taken from a shot film named ‘Ghost Crash’ made by an Italian Visual Effects Artist Donato Sansone.”; “the car crashes that the post claims as supernatural or scientifically unexplainable are actually digitally created by Donato Sansone.”] To identify the footage, the investigators say they used reverse-image searches on screenshots from the video. Those searches led them to an article whose photo collage showed the same cars, and then to a Snopes fact-check. The review says Snopes explained that real crash footage had been altered by digitally erasing the cars; it also says the clips could be seen in Sansone’s film. This gives a specific production explanation for the scenes rather than evidence of supernatural events. [S1: “After performing a reverse image search on Yandex with screenshots from the video, we were led to a news article published by a UK-based Inews website.”; “As per this article, real car crash videos were used to create this video, and cars were digitally erased from the original clips.”; “All the clips from the viral video can be seen in his short film titled Ghost crash”] The review distinguishes this footage from another moment in the viral video, in which a man is thrown into the air. It says the investigators found that clip in a compilation but could not trace its source. The review’s explanation for the car crashes therefore should not be taken as an explanation for that separate, unresolved clip. [S1: “There is a clip in the viral video in which a man is mysteriously thrown into the air”; “we could not trace the source of the clip.”]

Factcrescendo Sri LankaDisasters & emergencies

රිය අනතුරින් දිනේෂ් මුතුගල ජීව විද්‍යා දේශක ජීවිතක්ෂයට !!

Publisher’s rating: False

The review investigated social-media posts claiming that biology lecturer Dinesh Muthugala had died. It reports that on the morning of August 21, a jeep crashed into a fuel tanker near Dambokka on the Central Expressway. Muthugala and three others were taken to hospital after the crash, which appears to have contributed to the death claim. The review also notes that a different, well-known lecturer, physics teacher Mahesh Dukgannarala, had died about a month earlier, on July 30. To check what happened to Muthugala, the review says it compared the circulating claim with news coverage and a police media statement, neither of which reported his death. It further reports that Kurunegala Teaching Hospital said Muthugala and the other occupants had only minor injuries. The review points to Muthugala’s own statements from the hospital and after leaving it, in which he said he was well and that all four had survived. The review concludes that the death claim was false: Muthugala survived the crash, was treated for minor injuries and went home. The reported crash was real, but the claim that it killed him was not.

FACTLYDisasters & emergencies

Visuals of five men falling into a drain as the concrete slab under them breaks; this incident happened in Chembur (Maharashtra)

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim concerns a video showing five men falling into a drain when the concrete slab beneath them breaks. The post placed the incident in Amar Mahal, Chembur, Maharashtra. The review identifies the location instead as Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, and dates the incident to 07 April 2022. It says the video was being shared as though it showed an event in Chembur, rather than Jaisalmer. (S1: “The post description mentions the location as Amar Mahal, Chembur.”; “This incident happened in Jaisalmer (Rajasthan) on 07 April 2022.”) To check the location, the review says it searched the internet using relevant keywords and found a Facebook post carrying the same video. Its description identified the incident as being in Jaisalmer. The review also reports finding news reports about the event, which it says placed it in Jaisalmer on 07 April 2022. These findings directly address the location attached to the video, rather than merely describing a similar drain accident. (S1: “After searching the internet using relevant keywords, we found a Facebook post with the same video.”; “In the post, it is written – ‘Jaisalmer: drain belts broken, 5 people fell, watch viral video‘.”; “Further, searching on the internet with relevant keywords, we found few news reports about this incident.”) The review’s account of those reports says the men were standing outside a puncture shop when the slab gave way and they fell into a dry drain. It says a nearby CCTV camera recorded the fall. Thus, the account supports the conclusion that the video depicts a Jaisalmer incident, not the Chembur location asserted in the post. (S1: “Five men were standing in front of a puncture shop, and suddenly the slab under them broke, and they fell into a dry drain.”; “All of this was recorded on a CCTV nearby.”)