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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.

3,262 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYDisasters & emergencies

12 jawans have died in a bus accident in Meghalaya.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a video and photographs shared on Facebook alleging that 12 jawans travelling on a bus had died in a road accident in Meghalaya. FACTLY checked the claim against reporting on the bus crash and sought a direct clarification from BSF-Meghalaya authorities. The review identifies the crash as involving a bus carrying BSF jawans that fell into a gorge at Umtyrra in East Jaintia Hills. The review says that news coverage reported one death and injuries to 22 people, including 20 BSF jawans, but did not report any jawan dying. More decisively, Randhir Ranjan, identified as 2IC – Operations at BSF Meghalaya’s headquarters, told FACTLY that no BSF jawan had died. He said an auxiliary worker on the civilian bus was the person who died, while injured jawans were safe and receiving treatment. The article adds that injured jawans were being treated at NEIGRIHMS in Shillong. Thus, the evidence distinguishes the death of the bus’s civilian helper from the condition of the jawans: the crash did cause a fatality, but the source’s account says it was not a BSF jawan and that no jawan died.

Fact CrescendoDisasters & emergencies

Claim: Girl who lost parents in Tsunami becomes a Police Officer

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The post under review paired a photograph of a young girl with one of a woman in police uniform, claiming the child had lost her parents in the 2004 Tamil Nadu tsunami and was now serving in the Tamil Nadu police. The review says the claim circulated on Facebook and that the Troll 420 page posted it on October 31, 2019. Its investigation focused on identifying the people and the origins of the two images, rather than on tracing an individual officer’s biography. (The review describes the post as: “2004ம் ஆண்டு தமிழகத்தில் ஏற்பட்ட சுனாமியில் அப்பா அம்மாவை இழந்த இந்த குழந்தை தற்போது தமிழக காவல்துறையில் பணியாற்றும் இந்த பெண்ணை வாழ்த்தலாமே பிரண்ட்ஸ்”.) For the uniformed woman’s image, the review reports using reverse-image search and finding material about actress Nivetha Pethuraj appearing in a police role in the Tamil film *Thimiru Pudichavan*. It says the film-shooting coverage identified Pethuraj as playing a police officer alongside Vijay Antony, and that comparison established the image in the Facebook post came from a film scene—not a photograph of the claimed police officer. (The review reports: “படத்தை ரிவர்ஸ் இமேஜ் தேடலில் பதிவேற்றித் தேடியபோது, இந்த பதிவு பொய்யானது என்று வெளியான கட்டுரை ஒன்றும், ‘திமிறு பிடிச்சவன்’ படத்தில் நிவேதா பெத்துராஜ் போலீஸ் வேடத்தில் நடித்தது தொடர்பான செய்தி, படங்கள் கிடைத்தன.”) The review separately says it reverse-searched the girl’s image and identified her as a child from Pakistan; it also found the photograph used on social-media sites and offered for sale on photo-selling sites. Together, these findings undermine the post’s presentation of the two images as showing the tsunami orphan grown up and serving in Tamil Nadu’s police. The review concludes that the image evidence does not support that story. (It states: “சிறுமியின் படத்தை ரிவர்ஸ் இமேஜ் தேடலில் பதிவேற்றித் தேடியபோது, அது பாகிஸ்தானைச் சேர்ந்த சிறுமி என்பது தெரியவந்தது.”)

Fact CrescendoDisasters & emergencies

Claim: Tamil child sujith saved from borewell

Publisher’s rating: False

The review investigated Facebook videos shared as footage of Sujith being rescued from a borewell. It says the post under examination was shared on October 27, 2019, and that similar posts circulated with the same rescue claim. The review’s conclusion is that the footage was not from Sujith’s rescue: it identifies the video as showing a borewell incident in Andhra Pradesh in 2017 instead. (S1: “இது உண்மையில் ஆந்திராவில் கடந்த 2017ம் ஆண்டு நிகழ்ந்த ஒரு சம்பவத்தின் வீடியோ காட்சியாகும்.”; “இதேபோல பலரும் சிறுவன் சு(ர்)ஜித் மீட்கப்படும் வீடியோ என்று கூறி இந்த வீடியோ காட்சியை வைரலாக பகிர்ந்ததை காண முடிகிறது.”) The review describes comparing the viral clip with footage it identifies as the original video. It reports that scenes in the circulating clip appear in the original video after the 1-minute-30-second mark. It also notes that commenters had pointed out the video was misleading, but that the person who shared the post had left it up. (S1: “இதனை பலரும் நாம் ஆய்வு செய்யும் பதிவின் கமெண்ட்டிலேயே சுட்டிக்காட்டியுள்ளனர்.”; “இந்த வீடியோவின் 1.30 நிமிடத்திற்கு மேல் நாம் ஆய்வு செய்யும் வீடியோவில் உள்ள காட்சிகள் அப்படியே மாறாமல் இடம்பெற்றுள்ளதை காண முடிகிறது.”) The review distinguishes the 2017 incident from Sujith’s case: it says a two-year-old fell into a 20-foot borewell near Vinukonda, Guntur, on August 16, 2017, and was rescued alive after an 11-hour operation. By contrast, it says Sujith could not be rescued alive despite efforts lasting more than 80 hours, and that he died the day after falling into the borewell. Thus the video’s rescue scene belongs to the earlier Andhra Pradesh incident, not to Sujith’s case. (S1: “கடந்த 2017ம் ஆண்டு ஆகஸ்ட் 16ம் தேதி ஆந்திரா மாநிலம் குண்டூரில் உள்ள வினுகொண்டா பகுதியில் 2 வயது சிறுவன் 20 ஆடி ஆழமுள்ள ஆழ்துளை கிணற்றில் விழுந்துவிட ஒரே இரவில் அவனை தேசிய பேரிடர் மீட்புப் படையினர் (NDRF) 11 மணிநேரம் போராடி உயிருடன் மீட்டுத்தனர்.”; “உண்மையில், தமிழக சிறுவன் சுஜித்தை 80 மணிநேரத்திற்கும் மேலாக போராடியும் உயிருடன் மீட்க முடியவில்லை.”)

Deutsche Presse-AgenturDisasters & emergencies

Extreme Dürre und heiße Winde sorgen an der Westküste der USA immer wieder für Waldbrände. Am 11. Oktober 2019 schreibt die deutschsprachige Webseite «connectiv.events», nach «fünf fast gleichzeitigen Explosionen brennt Kalifornien wieder». Es wird der Eindruck erweckt, die Region stehe vor einer Katastrophe gigantischen Ausmaßes: Hunderttausende seien auf der Flucht. Zudem seien 800 000 Kunden von der Stromversorgung abgeschaltet worden

Publisher’s rating: Der Bericht vermischt Ereignisse aus weit voneinander entfernten Regionen. Zum Zeitraum der Veröffentlichung loderten schwere Brände nördlich von Los Angeles. Das Ausmaß blieb für kalifornische Verhältnisse überschaubar. Für die behaupteten «Explosionen» östlich von Los Angeles gibt es keinerlei Belege.

The claim concerns a connectiv.events post from October 11, 2019, which linked California fires to five supposed near-simultaneous explosions and portrayed the situation as a vast disaster, with hundreds of thousands fleeing and 800,000 customers without power. The dpa review says the post omitted time and place details and linked three YouTube videos; one was unavailable by October 23. The review traced the videos and compared their claims with reporting and records about fires in the areas mentioned. One functioning link led to an ABC News report filmed near Sylmar, north of Los Angeles, about the Saddleridge Fire. Authorities had urged residents of more than 20,000 homes in threatened areas to leave. A later fire-department tally cited by dpa recorded 107 buildings destroyed or damaged and one death; a resident had suffered a heart attack. The review found no eyewitness accounts or other supporting evidence in media or social networks for the alleged explosions east of Los Angeles. It noted a separate fire in a Riverside County mobile-home park, where two residents died. The power-cut figure had a different documented context: PG&E said it would proactively interrupt service to 800,000 customers in northern and central California because strong winds were expected. The review therefore distinguishes that precautionary measure from the fire and explosion claims rather than treating the number as evidence that the entire region was fleeing a single catastrophe.