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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

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaDisasters & emergencies

FACT CHECK: කින්නියා පාලම් පාරු අනතුරේ වීඩියෝවක්ද?

Publisher’s rating: False

The review examined a Facebook video presented as showing the Kinniya ferry accident, including the suggestion that it showed a child surviving. The accident took place in the Kinniya area, at the Kurinjankerni lagoon, and the review reports that the ferry capsized on the morning of the 23rd. Its central question was whether the circulating clip came from that incident. To check the attribution, the publisher compared the social-media clip with footage and reporting about the Kinniya rescue operation. It says it could not find the circulating video in the main media coverage of the accident. The review then traced the clip to a different event: footage of a child rescued after being caught in a whirlpool at the Chandpur estuary in Bangladesh the previous August. It also says the Fact Crescendo Bangladesh team confirmed that the incident was in Bangladesh. The review’s conclusion is that the video was not from Sri Lanka or the Kinniya tragedy. It showed the rescue of a child in Bangladesh, so its presentation as footage of the Kinniya ferry accident misidentified the clip’s location and event.

FACTLYDisasters & emergencies

Video showing the explosion visuals of a two-wheeler electric motor vehicle

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a video presented as showing an electric two-wheeler exploding. FACTLY identifies the footage as a real explosion, but says the vehicle was carrying country firecrackers near Kottakuppam in Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu—not an electric vehicle. The review reports that the firecrackers exploded and killed the man and his seven-year-old son riding the vehicle. It also says Villupuram district police officials attributed the blast to heat caused by friction, and that district police chief Shreenatha rejected the electric-vehicle explanation. [S1] To identify the footage, FACTLY says it noticed a PTC News logo in the video, then found the same video on PTC News’s official Facebook page, where it had been posted with a description about a father and son killed by firecrackers. The review also describes reverse-image searching screenshots from the video and finding similar visuals in an NDTV article. It reports that NDTV identified the incident as a two-wheeler explosion in Villupuram district on 4 November 2021. [S1] The review’s account of the incident says Kalainesan was riding with his son, Pradeesh, and a bag of country crackers when the explosion occurred near the Puducherry–Kottakuppam boundary. It quotes Shreenatha telling the Indian Express that the crackers might have exploded because of heat caused by friction. FACTLY concludes that the video shows an explosion caused by firecrackers, not an electric vehicle. [S1]

Fact CrescendoDisasters & emergencies

Claim: These videos not related with the Chennai rains 2021

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The review investigates two videos shared as footage of flooding in Chennai in November 2021. One was presented as showing floodwater on the Saidapet Marai Malai Adigal Bridge; another showed people jumping from a partly submerged bus. The review concludes that neither video depicted the claimed 2021 Chennai flooding: one was from 2015, and the other was filmed in Kerala in 2018. For the bridge clip, the review says it identified a Vikatan TV logo in the video and used that clue to search Vikatan TV’s YouTube page. It found the same video there, uploaded on December 2, 2015. This establishes that the clip predated the 2021 Chennai rains by nearly six years, despite being shared as current footage. For the bus clip, the reviewers noticed “KSRTC” on the bus, then converted a frame into an image and used reverse-image search. They report finding the video and related news coverage identifying its location as Nilambur, Kerala, and its date as 2018. Thus, the two examples were old or from another location, rather than footage of the Chennai flooding. The excerpts do not identify the original date or uploader of the 2018 clip beyond that year and location.

Fact CrescendoDisasters & emergencies

Claim: Thanthi tv not posted this news that Chennai people happy for flooding

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a social-media image made to look like a Thanthi TV news card. It said that rain would continue in Chennai and that residents were “immersed in a flood of happiness” because rainwater had accumulated in places. The review says the image was shared with criticism of Tamil media and that a Facebook account named Shyamala Jeevanandham posted it on November 8, 2021. The specific question was whether Thanthi TV had issued that card. To check the attribution, the review compared the image with Thanthi TV cards on the channel’s Facebook and Twitter pages. It found a similar card, but its text said that heavy rain was expected to continue in Chennai for the next three hours, citing the meteorological department—not that residents were happy about flooding. The review reports that the disputed image had been edited to add the happiness claim. It also says a manager in Thanthi TV’s digital division confirmed the image was fake. On that evidence, the review concluded that the channel did not publish the card as shared.

Fact CrescendoDisasters & emergencies

Claim: these pictures not related with the recent Chennai floods

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The review investigated two photographs circulated as evidence of flooding in Chennai during the government led by M.K. Stalin. One showed people being transported in a small boat; the other showed people standing in floodwater to collect drinking water. The accompanying posts framed the images as scenes from the recent Chennai floods, including one caption describing Chennai as a swimming pool after a day of rain. The review says Chennai had experienced heavy rain and waterlogging, but tested whether these particular photographs came from that event. [S1: “சென்னையில் மழை வெள்ள பாதிப்பு ஏற்பட்ட சூழலில், மு.க.ஸ்டாலின் ஆட்சி நிர்வாகம் காரணமாக சென்னையில் மழை நீர் தேங்கிவிட்டது என்று குற்றம்சாட்டும் வகையில் சில படங்கள் சமூக ஊடகங்களில் பகிரப்பட்டு வருகின்றன. பரிசல் மூலம் மக்கள் காப்பாற்றப்படும் படம் பகிரப்பட்டுள்ளது.”] For the boat photograph, the fact-checkers used reverse-image search and reported finding that it depicted the 2015 Chennai floods, not the flooding in November 2021. They add that BBC and other outlets had used the image in reports about the 2015 floods, and that BBC credited it to AFP. [S1: “படத்தை ரிவர்ஸ் இமேஜ் தேடலில் பதிவேற்றித் தேடினோம். அந்த புகைப்படம் 2015ம் ஆண்டு வெள்ள பாதிப்பின் போது எடுக்கப்பட்டது என்று தெரிந்தது. பிபிசி உள்ளிட்ட பல ஊடகங்கள் இந்த புகைப்படத்தை 2015ம் ஆண்டு பயன்படுத்தியிருந்தன.ஏ.எஃப்.பி இந்த புகைப்படத்தை எடுத்திருந்ததாக பிபிசி வெளியிட்டிருந்த செய்தியில் குறிப்பிடப்பட்டு இருந்தது.”] The second photograph was also checked using reverse-image search. The review identifies it as an image from Ahmedabad in 2017, rather than Chennai, and says Indian Express and Hindustan Times had published it that July, crediting it to the Press Trust of India. Its conclusion is that neither image was a recent scene from the Chennai flooding: one was from Chennai in 2015, and the other from Ahmedabad in 2017. [S1: “அந்த புகைப்படம் சென்னையில் எடுக்கப்பட்டது இல்லை, அகமதாபாத் நகரில் 2017ம் ஆண்டு எடுக்கப்பட்டது என்று தெரியவந்தது.2017ம் ஆண்டு ஜூலை மாதம் இந்த புகைப்படத்தை இந்தியன் எக்ஸ்பிரஸ், இந்துஸ்தான் டைம்ஸ் உள்ளிட்ட பல ஊடகங்களும் தங்கள் செய்தியில் வெளியிட்டிருந்தது தெரியவந்தது. இந்த புகைப்படத்தை பிடிஐ செய்தி நிறுவனம் வெளியிட்டதாக அந்த செய்திகளில் குறிப்பிடப்பட்டு இருந்தது.”]

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaDisasters & emergencies

FACT CHECK: මහබාගේ රිය අනතුර ගැන විජිත හේරත්ගෙන් ප්‍රකාශයක්?

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The claim concerns social-media posts attributing remarks about the Mahabage road accident to JVP MP Vijitha Herath. One post said he had described the arrested boy as being targeted because he was the son of a minority; another attributed to him a claim that the accident was a government conspiracy and questioned who had cut the vehicle’s brake cable. The review specifically investigated whether Herath had made a statement about the jeep accident and the 16-year-old student who was arrested. (S1: “ඕනෑම රටක රිය අනතුරු සිදුවෙනවා, හැබැයි මෙතනදි මේ ළමයව වට කරගෙන පීඩාවට පත් කරන්නේ ඔහු සුලු ජාතිකයෙකුගෙ පුතෙක් නිසා” යනුවෙන් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී විජිත හේරත් මහතා පැවසූ බවට සටහනක්”; “අත්අඩංගුවට ගනු ලැබූ 16 හැවිරිදි සිසුවා සම්බන්ධයෙන් ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී විජිත හේරත් මහතා විසින් ප්‍රකාශයක් සිදු කළාද යන්න විමර්ශනය කිරීමට පියවර ගනු ලැබුවා.”) The review says its search found no report in mainstream media containing such a statement. It also says the investigators contacted Herath directly; he denied making any statement about either the accident or the people arrested, and described the posts attributing statements to him as entirely false. These findings address the attribution itself, rather than establishing the truth of the posts’ claims about the accident. (S1: “ප්‍රධාන මාධ්‍ය ධාරා වල එවන් ප්‍රකාශයක් ඇතුළත් ප්‍රවෘත්තියක් පළ වී නොතිබුණු බවට අපගේ නිරීක්ෂණයේදී තහවුරු විය.”; “ඒ මහතා සඳහන් කළේ, තමන් විසින් එම රිය අනතුර සම්බන්ධයෙන් හෝ අත්අඩංගුවට ගත් පුද්ගලයන් සම්බන්ධයෙන් හෝ කිසිදු ප්‍රකාශයක් සිදු නොකළ බවයි.”; “සමාජ මාධ්‍ය ඔස්සේ තමන් විසින් සිදු කළ බවට පැතිරෙන එවැනි ප්‍රකාශ ඇතුළත් සටහන් මුළුමනින්ම අසත්‍ය බවයි, විජිත හේරත් මහතා වැඩි දුරටත් පවසා සිටියේ.”)

dpaDisasters & emergencies

De aardbevingen op La Palma zijn niet natuurlijk.

Publisher’s rating: Dit is klinklare onzin. De kaart waaruit dat zou moeten blijken rond de coördinaten van aardbevingen af. Daardoor lijken aardbevingen die dicht bij elkaar lagen samen te vallen op de kaart. Zo onstaat er een rasterpatroon. De vele aardbevingen op het Spaanse eiland zijn wel degelijk natuurlijk en ontstonden door de uitbarstingen van vulkaan Cumbre Vieja.