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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

Photo of passengers pushing a plane from the water-logged runway in Delhi airport

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a photo presented as recent footage of passengers pushing an aeroplane off a waterlogged runway at Delhi airport. The review says the post circulated amid reports of waterlogging at Indira Gandhi International airport and compared the image with scenes of Afghans near a US military plane in Kabul. Its investigation concluded that the photo was not from Delhi or India: it showed an earlier incident at Yantai airport in China. The review describes using reverse-image search to locate a similar image in a Sohu News article. That article identified the scene as Yantai airport staff pushing a Shandong Airlines regional jet to safety. The review places the incident in the context of severe rainfall and flooding in the Yantai region during the second week of August 2007. It also notes that another photo in the article showed the aircraft marked “Shandong Airlines B-3008.” The review adds that other news websites also reported the incident in 2007, and that the Shandong Government clarified the image’s Yantai origin after it circulated as a scene from Delhi. Taken together, the reported image match, location, aircraft identification and clarification contradict the post’s claim that the photo showed passengers pushing a plane at Delhi airport.

FACTLYDisasters & emergencies

Images of a crashed private jet that was carrying 40 missionaries

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim attaches a story about 40 missionaries to images of a crashed private jet, adding that everyone aboard survived. FACTLY’s investigation identifies the pictured aircraft instead as a Gulfstream G200 Galaxy Corporate Jet that crashed during a landing at Toncontin International Airport in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in 2018. The review says the incident took place on 22 May 2018. To trace the images, FACTLY reports conducting a reverse-image search. It found similar pictures in a BBC article dated 23 May 2018, which described a Gulfstream 200 skidding off the runway at Toncontin and reported six Americans injured, with no fatalities. The review also says it found further accident details on The Aviation Network’s website: the jet had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport with four passengers and two pilots aboard. That makes six occupants, not 40 missionaries. The review reports that all six occupants survived with minor injuries, while the aircraft was completely destroyed. It also cites a 23 May 2018 tweet by Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández saying no one had died and that the injured passengers and crew were stable. These details support the survival element of the post, but not its account of who was aboard or how many people were on the plane. FACTLY says it found no reporting that a plane carrying 40 missionaries had crashed.

המשרוקיתDisasters & emergencies

חקלאים יקבלו פיצוי על השריפה בירושלים

Publisher’s rating: לא נכון

The review examined Agriculture Minister Oded Forer’s assurance, made in an interview about the Jerusalem Hills fire, that the property-tax fund would provide farmers with immediate help. It found that this was not guaranteed: the fund’s rules cover damage caused by war or drought, and fire damage would qualify as war-related only if the fire were officially recognized as an act of hostilities. The review notes that no such official determination had been made at the time of Forer’s statement. [S1: “פורר מיהר להשיב כי "בוודאי שלנזקי רכוש יש קרן על נזקים, אותה קרן מס רכוש שמסייעת"”] [S1: “אלא שהחוק מתייחס רק לנזקים שנגרמו כתוצאה ממלחמה או מבצורת.”] [S1: “לא קבע אף גורם רשמי בישראל כי השריפה הענקית הוצתה על רקע לאומני, או כחלק מפעולת איבה”] The investigation describes how it assessed the fund’s applicability: it referred to the Property Tax and Compensation Fund Law and its definition of war damage, and reported the Fire and Rescue Commissioner’s account that the fire was caused by human action but that it was not known whether this was negligence, recklessness, or arson. The minister’s office also told the review that compensation from the fund depended on a declaration of nationalist arson, which had not been made. [S1: “בסעיף 35 לחוק מוסבר כי נזק מלחמה משמעו”] [S1: “ביום שני בערב, שעות לאחר ההתבטאות של פורר, אמר נציב כבאות והצלה דדי שמחי כי "השריפה פרצה כתוצאה ממעשה ידי אדם. אם זו רשלנות או פזיזות, אם זה זדון או הצתה - אנחנו לא יודעים".”] [S1: “הפיצוי ממס רכוש תלוי בכך.”] The review distinguishes this conditional route from other possible forms of assistance. It says the government could declare a natural disaster, as it had done in some past cases, and that some farmers might have coverage through private insurance or the Natural Hazards Fund; however, that fund generally did not insure fire damage except in certain cases or expanded policies. Thus, the article’s conclusion is that Forer’s assurance of compensation from the property-tax fund was incorrect, while other forms of compensation remained possible. [S1: “נתיב אלטרנטיבי לפיצוי חקלאים הוא הכרזה על אסון טבע”] [S1: “הקרן, עם זאת, לרוב אינה מבטחת נזקי שריפות, אלא במקרים חריגים ובפוליסות המורחבות.”] [S1: “דבריו של פורר, כאילו חקלאים באזור ירושלים שרכושם נפגע מהשריפה "בוודאי" יפוצו מקרן הפיצויים, אינם נכונים.”]

Fact CrescendoDisasters & emergencies

រូប​ថត​មួយ​សន្លឹក​​បង្ហាញ​អំពី​សកម្មភាព​មនុស្ស​មួយ​ក្រុម​កំពុង​​រុញ​ច្រាន​រថយន្ត​ទំនើប​​ Rolls-Royce ដែល​លិច​ក្នុង​ទឹក​ជំនន់​ ត្រូវ​បាន​អ្នក​ប្រើ​ប្រាស់​ម្នាក់​បាន​ភ្ជាប់​ថា​ នេះ​គឺ​ជា​លទ្ធផល​នៃ​ការ​អភិវឌ្ឍន៍​​របស់រាជ​​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​លោក​ ហ៊ុន​ សែន​។​

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

dpaDisasters & emergencies

600 cadavres de bébés et d'enfants ont été trouvés dans des maisons laissées par les inondations en Allemagne.

Publisher’s rating: C’est faux. La police allemande a démenti les rumeurs prétendant que 600 cadavres d’enfants auraient été retrouvés après les inondations. Ces allégations se basent sur un reportage d’une chaîne de télévision allemande qui évoque des enfants décédés à cause des inondations ; mais le nombre de 600 ne puise son origine dans aucun fait.

Fact CrescendoDisasters & emergencies

Claim: This flood damage is not related with China I சீனாவின் மழை வெள்ளம் என்று பகிரப்படும் ஜப்பான் சுனாமி வீடியோ!

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a video presented as damage from flooding in China. Fact Crescendo’s review says the footage showed floodwater sweeping away boats and small ships, and describes a Facebook post by Sheikabdul Kadher on August 3, 2021, that linked the scene to China’s rain and the Three Gorges Dam. The review investigated whether that video actually showed the 2021 China floods. The investigation reports that reviewers converted frames from the video into images and used reverse-image searches. They found the same footage circulated on YouTube, Twitter and Instagram with descriptions identifying it as the 2011 Japan tsunami. Based on those search results, the review concludes that the footage was not recorded during the 2021 floods in China, and that presenting it as Chinese flood footage was misleading. The excerpt does not name the individual videos found in those searches or provide a direct link to the original recording. Its stated basis is the matching footage found through reverse-image searching and its circulation under Japan-tsunami descriptions; the evidence presented here therefore supports the review’s identification without supplying a fuller provenance chain.

dpaDisasters & emergencies

In Duitsland werden bij de overstromingen 600 kinderlijken gevonden. Vermoedelijk afkomstig uit massagraven en tunnels.

Publisher’s rating: Er zijn niet 600 dode kinderen aangetroffen na de overstromingen in de Duitse regio. De Duitse politie heeft dit nepnieuws dan ook ontkracht. Er zijn wel verhalen van enkele slachtoffers van de overstromingen die kinderen waren. Voor de bewering dat slachtoffers uit massagraven of geheime tunnels aanspoelden is daarentegen geen enkel bewijs.

The claim concerns the July 2021 floods in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Germany: posts alleged that 600 children’s bodies had been washed out, possibly from mass graves or underground tunnels. The review reports that Koblenz police official Florian Stadtfeld called the 600-child rumor “Fake News” at a flood press conference. It also gives the Rhineland-Palatinate death toll as 134 on July 29, with 80 victims identified at that point; police did not release the victims’ ages. Those figures do not support the claim of 600 child deaths. The review traced the rumor to a short excerpt from an n-tv report. In that clip, a reporter says residents had described finding children’s bodies in their homes, washed in from elsewhere. The review says this was a genuine report about accounts of some deceased children, not evidence of hundreds. Deutsche Welle asked n-tv about the report; n-tv said one person interviewed was a resident of Altenburg describing her experience during the flood night. The review notes that neither the clip nor the German news report mentions 600 children. The review says it found no other report substantiating the number 600 and no evidence that bodies came from mass graves or secret tunnels. It also explains that the social-media allegation linked the story to a government bunker in the Ahr valley, but the review found no evidence connecting that site to the recovery of children’s bodies.