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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

Pagella PoliticaDisasters & emergencies

È inaccettabile che in Italia muoia per incidente un ciclista ogni 35 ore

Publisher’s rating: Vero

The review addresses the claim that a cyclist dies in a road accident in Italy every 35 hours. It attributes the claim to Infrastructure and Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli and says the figure is based on the latest data available to the review, referring to 2017. The excerpt does not provide the underlying figures or describe the review’s calculation, so those details cannot be assessed from the material supplied. The review adds an important qualification: cyclist deaths make up a smaller share of road-accident fatalities in absolute numbers than deaths among pedestrians, motorcyclists and motorists. That comparison qualifies the statistic’s significance but does not contradict the stated frequency.

YouturnDisasters & emergencies

இரு சக்கர வாகனம் ஓட்டுவோர் கவனத்திற்கு.. வானிலையில் நிலவும் அதிக வெப்பத்தின் காரணமாக பெட்ரோல் டேங்க் வெடிக்கக்கூடிய அபாயம் உள்ளது. பெட்ரோல் டேங்கை முழுவதுமாக நிரப்பும் போது காற்று சுழற்சிக்கு இடமில்லாத காரணத்தால் பெட்ரோல் சூடாகி டேங்க் வெடிக்கும் அபாயம் ஏற்படும். இதுவரை 5 பேர் உயிரிழந்துள்ளனர். எனவே, பாதி டேங்க் மட்டுமே பெட்ரோல் நிரப்பவும். இது INDIAN OIL நிறுவனத்தின் அறிவிப்பு.

Publisher’s rating: Fake

FACTLYDisasters & emergencies

2017-18 is the is the best ever year of safety record for the railways and less than 100 accidents were recorded in that year.

Publisher’s rating: TRUE

The claim concerns a government infographic’s assertion that 2017–18 was Indian Railways’ best-ever safety-record year, with fewer than 100 accidents. The review clarifies that the figures in the claim count consequential train accidents—not every railway accident or incident. It describes consequential accidents as serious mishaps involving specified impacts such as loss of life or injury, damage to railway property, or significant interruption to traffic.

YouturnDisasters & emergencies

இறைவனின் நாட்டம் இல்லாமல் எதுவும் நடக்காது. நேற்று விபத்துக்குள்ளான விமானம் விழுந்த கடற்பகுதியில் இருந்து ஒரு குழந்தை பெற்றோர்கள் இல்லாமல் கடலில் மிதந்த போது படையினரால் காப்பாற்றப்பட்டுள்ளது. ஒரு இரவு முழுவதும் கடலில் மிதந்தும் குழந்தைக்கு எதுவும் ஆகவில்லை – குவைத் தமிழ் நெட்வொர்க்.

Publisher’s rating: Fake

台灣事實查核中心Disasters & emergencies

普悠瑪事故相關捐血訊息

Publisher’s rating: 事實釐清

The review examined conflicting appeals and reassurances about blood donations after the Puyuma train derailment on October 21, 2018. Its central distinction was between hospital blood stocks, which the report says were adequate, and the blood centers that supplied them, where stocks had fallen as blood was sent to Yilan. This distinction explains why reports that a hospital had enough blood did not establish that donation centers had no need for replenishment. The center says it sought information from regional blood centers and the Taiwan Blood Services Foundation. Yilan’s station chief said that hospitals’ withdrawals left the donation station with fewer than three days’ stock and under 100 units; Taipei sent 441 units, then another 450 to build reserves. The foundation also reported that Taipei’s stock was 6.4 days on October 22, below its stated seven-to-ten-day safety range, and that it arranged further transfers. These figures support the initial appeal even though the hospitals’ immediate supplies were sufficient. The situation then changed: Yilan’s stock rose to five times its usual level, prompting a request that donors not all come at once. The review explains that red blood cells can be stored for 35 days and that donors must wait two months between donations, so a concentrated surge could lead to unused blood expiring and leave stocks less steady later. As of October 24, most centers were within safe ranges, but A-type blood remained low in Taipei, Hsinchu, and Taichung, and AB-type blood was low in Kaohsiung. The report’s conclusion was to donate on a regular, spread-out schedule, rather than treating either the initial shortage or the later reassurance as a complete account of the changing supply.

Newtral.esDisasters & emergencies

Con un mejor estado de los torrentes, no habría tantas desgracias

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim was made in a video circulated on social media by a member of Actúa Baleares-Vox, in the aftermath of the deadly flooding in Mallorca on 9 October 2018. The review reports that 13 people died and examines whether the condition of the torrents contributed to the disaster. To assess that explanation, the review says it consulted Antonio Prieto, a former president of the College of Geographers and an expert in natural hazards, and Celso García, a geography doctor at the University of the Balearic Islands. Both rejected the idea that the torrents’ condition caused the event. Prieto instead pointed to past land-use planning decisions that allowed construction on land that had been riverbeds, ravines or torrents. He explained that watercourses can be dry during low-flow periods but regain their former channels when intense rain arrives. García added that the scale of the flood was such that even a clean torrent would not have prevented the devastation. The evidence presented therefore distinguishes the state of the watercourses from the exposure created by building on their former channels, and does not support attributing the deaths to inadequate torrent maintenance.