PeakMetrics / Fact Checks
Disasters & emergencies fact checks
Explore claims publishers have checked about disasters & emergencies. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.
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Search by text or image3,262 published reviews in this topic
Photos of a recent train accident at Golaghat Road in Assam
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
The post presented four photos as showing a recent train accident at Golaghat Road in Assam. FACTLY examined the photos individually and reported that none documented a recent accident in Assam: three were traced to earlier incidents in Jaipur, while the fourth depicted a road accident in Chhattisgarh. The review’s conclusion rests on identifying earlier appearances and descriptions of the same or similar images, rather than on evidence of a new crash at the claimed location. For the first photo, the review found a similar image on Prokerala, captioned as a coach of the Dayodaya Express that derailed near Sanganer railway station in Jaipur on February 1, 2019. For the second and third photos, it reported that the same images had appeared in Dainik Bhaskar on August 7, 2017, in connection with a train accident at Sawai Madhopur station in Jaipur. It identified the fourth photo in a Patrika article as relating to a road accident in Chhattisgarh. Taken together, these earlier, different incidents contradict the post’s presentation of the images as photos of a recent Assam train accident.
"Três Rios… A chuva arrastou um ônibus e vários carros pra dentro do rio…
Publisher’s rating: Falso
El vídeo viral con gente gritando en un avión que se asocia al vuelo de Air Canada que aterrizó de emergencia en Madrid
Publisher’s rating: Falso
The claim concerns a video showing passengers shouting and an engine apparently on fire, which was circulated as footage from the Air Canada flight that made an emergency landing in Madrid. Newtral reports that it searched Google using several images from the video and found that the footage had been recorded in July 2019, rather than during the Air Canada incident. Its account identifies the footage as showing a different emergency: a Delta Airlines flight traveling from Atlanta to Baltimore that diverted to Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The review describes the video as showing part of the left engine moving and its central section glowing red. It reports that the Delta flight, number 1425, landed safely at Raleigh-Durham at 14:20, citing CNN for the landing time and ABC Action News for the account of the Delta incident. These details place the viral footage at a different airline and airport from the Madrid-bound Air Canada flight. Newtral also compares the aircraft and cabin images: it says the Air Canada plane was a Boeing 767, while the aircraft on the Baltimore–Atlanta route was a Boeing 737. The interior images in the viral video, it adds, do not match images Air Canada passengers shared after learning they would have to return to Madrid after setting out for Toronto; Newtral describes that plane as being half empty. Together, the video’s earlier provenance and the reported aircraft and interior differences contradict the claim that it shows the Air Canada flight.
El vídeo viral que muestra un accidente de helicóptero al aterrizar relacionado con Kobe Bryant
Publisher’s rating: Falso
Vídeo que muestra la caída del helicóptero en el que volaban Kobe Bryant y su hija
Publisher’s rating: Falso
"The 480 million estimate was made a couple of weeks ago, and the fires have now burnt over a large area of further country. That means over 800 million mammals, birds and reptiles have been affected by the fires. Australia-wide, it's probably over a billion"
Publisher’s rating: Conservative estimate
Claim: Passenger Airplane crashed in Afghan
Publisher’s rating: Partly False
Fact Crescendo examined reports claiming that a passenger plane had crashed in Afghanistan and that 83 people were aboard. The review says that multiple Tamil-language outlets had published versions of the story, and identifies two problems in those reports: an incorrect photograph and contradictory information. Its conclusion was that the aircraft involved was not a passenger plane but belonged to the U.S. military; it says there may have been as many as six people aboard and that the Taliban reportedly took their bodies. The review describes comparing the reports with BBC Tamil’s coverage and notes that ANI initially published confusing information before changing its position and issuing an update. It says the news outlets had published breaking reports without checking them, leading to inconsistent information and photographs. On the evidence described in the review, the claim that 83 people were on a passenger aircraft was therefore not supported: the review says it was not a passenger plane and that 83 people were not aboard.
Vídeo del accidente de helicóptero al aterrizar de Kobe Bryant
Publisher’s rating: Falso
Newtral examined a video circulating online that showed a helicopter rocking as it came down, then turning and catching fire after appearing to land. The claim attached to the footage was that it showed the accident in which Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven other passengers died. The review concludes that the footage depicts a different crash. The key distinction is between the aircraft and the location: Newtral identifies the helicopter in the video as a Mi-8 and says it crashed at Gelendzhik airport in Russia in September 2014. It contrasts that aircraft with the Sikorsky S-76 involved in Bryant’s accident. The review also reports that two people died in the Gelendzhik incident, rather than the nine people named in the claim. To support its identification, Newtral points to The Aviation Safety Network, which it describes as an independent private initiative compiling information about aviation accidents and safety, and notes that Russian media also reported the incident. It further mentions another video of the accident uploaded to YouTube, whose Russian-language description says it was filmed by an airport employee. The excerpt does not describe an independent forensic examination of the circulating footage, so the stated identification and supporting references are the evidence available here.
Vídeo de la caída del helicóptero en el que volaban Kobe Bryant y su hija
Publisher’s rating: Falso
The claim is that a circulating video shows the helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant and his daughter falling. Newtral reports that several Twitter accounts presented the footage as showing that crash, but says this identification is false. The aircraft visible in the video was instead involved in a separate helicopter accident in the United Arab Emirates.
Claim: Picture of a dog which saved its owner from fire accident
Publisher’s rating: Fact Crescendo Rating: False
The review examines a viral Facebook post showing a dog with a badly disfigured face. The post claimed the dog was injured while rescuing its owner from a fire. The review says the image and claim were shared as true, then investigates the dog’s actual circumstances. (S1: “இதில் முகம் சிதைந்த நிலையில் உள்ள நாய் ஒன்றின் புகைப்படத்தை பகிர்ந்து, அதன் மேலே, இந்த நாய் தனது உரிமையாளரை தீ விபத்தில் இருந்து காப்பாற்றியபோது, இவ்வாறு காயமடைந்துவிட்டதாகக் குறிப்பிட்டுள்ளனர். இதனை பலரும் உண்மை என நம்பி வைரலாக பகிர்ந்து வருகின்றனர்.”) According to the review, the dog was found wandering without a caretaker in Collinsville, Oklahoma. People from the skiatookpawsandclaws organization rescued it and transferred it to Family Animal Medicine for treatment and care. The review identifies the dog as Phoenix. (S1: “அமெரிக்காவின் ஒக்லஹாமா மாகாணத்தில் உள்ள கோலின்ஸ்வில்லே பகுதியில்தான் இந்த நாய் பிடிபட்டுள்ளது. பராமரிப்பாளர்கள் யாரும் இன்றி சாலையோரம் திரிந்த இதன் பரிதாப நிலை கண்டு இரக்கப்பட்ட skiatookpawsandclaws அமைப்பைச் சேர்ந்தவர்கள் மீட்டு, Family Animal Medicine வசம் ஒப்படைத்துள்ளனர். தற்போது இந்த நிறுவனம்தான் நாய்க்கு உரிய மருத்துவ சிகிச்சை அளித்து பராமரித்து வருகிறது.”; “குறிப்பிட்ட நாய்க்கு Phoenix எனப் பெயரிடப்பட்டுள்ளது.”) The review says veterinarians had not determined what caused Phoenix’s unusual facial appearance. It reports that they were investigating possible injury or infection, but had not established either explanation. The account therefore provides no support for the viral story that Phoenix was burned in a fire while saving an owner; instead, it describes a stray dog whose injuries’ cause remained undetermined. (S1: “நாய் பிடிபட்டது முதலாக, அதனை அன்றாடம் பரிசோதித்து வரும் கால்நடை மருத்துவர்கள், அதன் விசித்திர முகத் தோற்றத்திற்கு என்ன காரணம் என்று தெரியாமல் குழப்பமடைந்துள்ளனர். ஒருவேளை யாரும் காயப்படுத்தினார்களா அல்லது ஏதேனும் நோய்த்தொற்று காரணமா என இதுவரை கண்டுபிடிக்க முடியவில்லை.”; “ஆனால், இது தீ விபத்தில் சிக்கிய அதன் உரிமையாளரை காப்பாற்றியதாகக் கூறப்படும் தகவல் தவறு.”)
Foto del Delta del Ebro tras la borrasca Gloria
Publisher’s rating: Falso
In einem Post wird behauptet, die Feuer in Australien seien von Menschen gelegt und geschürt worden. Es wird suggeriert, dass die Regierung hierfür verantwortlich sei. Der Beitrag legt den Schluss nahe, dass durch die angebliche Brandstiftung Landflächen gewonnen werden sollen, um dort eine Zugverbindung für das "Projekt Clara" zu errichten.
Publisher’s rating: Die Brände in Australien und eine geplante Bahnlinie überschneiden sich fast gar nicht. Sie befinden sich in unterschiedlichen Gebieten. Die Brände sind auf Wetterbedingungen und Brandstiftung zurückzuführen. Es gibt keine Belege dafür, dass die Regierung Brandstiftung in Auftrag gegeben hat.
The post linked Australia’s bushfires to a proposed rail route, suggesting that fires were deliberately set to free land for the “Project Clara” railway and implying government responsibility. The review examined both the proposed Sydney–Melbourne route and the locations of the fires, rather than treating the existence of the rail proposal as proof of a connection. It reports that the planning company Clara (Consolidated Land and Rail Australia), which received government funding, said it wanted to build a line between Sydney and Melbourne; a route graphic was available on the company’s website. The review compared that route with maps of burned areas in New South Wales and Victoria. That comparison did not support the proposed land-clearing explanation. In New South Wales, the fires were concentrated along the coast, while the planned line turned inland north of Canberra. The review says the area between Sydney and Canberra was barely burned and that there were few fires farther inland along the route toward Melbourne. In Victoria, too, the fires and the planned route scarcely overlapped: fires were concentrated in southeastern national parks that the line was not intended to cross. Thus the review found a substantial geographic mismatch between the burned areas and the proposed railway. The review describes the fires as having more than one cause, including weather conditions and human-caused ignition. It cites a ministerial spokesperson’s rejection of the fast-train theory and reports that it found no evidence that the government commissioned arson. Its conclusion is therefore narrower than claiming that no fires were deliberately set: arson was among the possible ignition causes, but the evidence presented did not connect it to the government or to clearing a route for Clara.
Un koala y su cría fueron rescatados de los incendios de Australia 2019
Publisher’s rating: Falso
The claim concerns a photo circulated with the caption that a mother koala and her joey had been rescued from an Australian fire. Newtral says it used a reverse-image search and found the photo had been shared before the fires. It also traced similar images to the Australian Reptile Park: one appeared on a keeper’s Instagram account, and another on the park’s account.
AAP FactCheck examined a claim that about 50 per cent of bushfires in Australia are deliberately lit.
Publisher’s rating: Partly false