Skip to main content

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

dpaDisasters & emergencies

Die Polizei versperrte den Menschen den Weg aus Lahaina, weshalb sie ins Meer springen mussten. Zudem wurden Häuser gezielt abgebrannt, weil sich ihre Besitzer gegen den Verkauf gewehrt hatten.

Publisher’s rating: Es gibt keine Belege dafür, dass die Polizei die Menschen durch Sperren gezwungen hat, im Wasser Schutz zu suchen. Die Polizei widersprach dieser Darstellung klar. Es gab zudem keine Pläne von offizieller Seite, Teile der Stadt Lahaina niederzubrennen, weil Bewohner ihre Grundstücke nicht verkaufen wollten.

The claims concern two allegations about the August 8, 2023, fires in Lahaina, Maui: that police roadblocks forced people into the ocean, and that the fires were deliberately set to make residents sell their property. The review distinguishes between roads that were blocked during the emergency and police preventing people from fleeing. It reports that the Lahaina Bypass and the road leading to it were closed, leaving Front Street and the Honoapiilani Highway as the remaining routes out. It also notes that people did not always receive information about the changing situation. But Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said officers had not blocked roads or stopped people escaping and had instead tried to evacuate them. The review says the fire spread rapidly across Lahaina, leaving some people no option but to flee into the sea. It cites reporting by the Associated Press on the road closures and the confused conditions, and distinguishes those circumstances from the claim that police forced people into the water. The review also notes that some people had reportedly been advised to enter the water in an emergency; the flames reached the coast, while the circumstances described in the review indicate that the fire—not police action—drove people into the sea. On the allegation of deliberate arson to compel property sales, the review says it found no indication of state-organized arson or an official plan to burn parts of Lahaina because owners resisted selling. It describes surviving homes and areas as attributable to factors including wind direction, fire-resistant materials, and surrounding vegetation, rather than a land-sale scheme.

המשרוקיתDisasters & emergencies

עשר שנים לא היו כל כך הרבה הרוגים בתאונות דרכים

Publisher’s rating: לא נכון

The claim concerned Avigdor Lieberman’s statement during a Galatz radio interview that there had not been so many road deaths for ten years. The review compared the number of people killed in road accidents in 2023 with earlier years, using figures from Israel’s National Road Safety Authority. Its main comparison was for the same period of each year: from January 1 through September 20, 2023, there were 265 fatalities, while the equivalent period in both 2016 and 2017 had 275.

FalsoDisasters & emergencies

السيل يملأ “هواء حجري” أكبر حفرة في ليبيا

Publisher’s rating: مضلل

The post claimed that floodwaters from Storm Daniel had filled “Hawa Hegri,” describing it as a natural volcanic crater near Ablakhna and Shahat, more than 400 metres across and possibly over 100 metres deep. The review traces the circulated before-and-after images to photographer Ali al-Saadi and reports that they show two different holes—not Hawa Hegri. The photographer’s caption names “Hawa al-Sa‘d” and “Hawa Haitini” and places them north of Qasr Libya in the Green Mountain area. (“تداولت عدة صفحات على مختلف مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي، أبرزها صفحة (الساعة 24) على فيسبوك صورًا على أنها لحفرة “هوا حجري” قبل وبعد إعصار دانيال” / “استطعنا التوصل إلى صاحب الصورة المتداولة وهو المصور “علي الساعدي”” / “وكان المصور يعرض مقارنةً لهوّتين (حفرتين) مختلفتين، الأولى “هواء السعد” وهي تقع في شمال منطقة قصر ليبيا بالجبل الأخضر” — S1.) The review distinguishes the two pictured sites from the hole named in the claim. It says Hawa al-Sa‘d is about 100 metres deep and 40–50 metres across, while Hawa Haitini is between Qasr Libya and the Jarjar Umm area near al-Abrak and is about 50 metres across. Though about two kilometres apart, one reportedly filled with rain and floodwater and the other did not. The review identifies Hawa Hegri separately, near Ablakhna by Shahat, and says it is not either hole shown in the images. Thus, the images do not establish that floodwaters filled Hawa Hegri. (“الأولى “هواء السعد” وهي تقع في شمال منطقة قصر ليبيا بالجبل الأخضر، يبلغ عمقها حوالي 100 متر تقريبًا ويصل قطرها من 40- 50 مترًا تقريبًا. الثانية “هواء هايتيني\هيتيني” هي حفرة أرضية تقع بين منطقة قصر ليبيا وبين بحر جرجار أمّه في منطقة الأبرق، وهي هوَّة عميقة جدّاً ويبلغ قطرها حوالي 50 متر.” / “والهوّتين تبعدان عن بعضهما حوالي 2 كيلومتر، والمفارقة أن رغم كونهما قريبتان من بعضهما إلا أن احداهما امتلأت والأخرى لم تمتلئ من الأمطار والسيول.” / “وهي ليست إحدى الحفرتين في الصور.” — S1.) The review also qualifies the measurements attached to the “largest hole” description: it says it found no scientific sources confirming the circulated depth and diameter figures and characterizes them as estimates. This does not establish precise measurements for Hawa Hegri; it means those figures should not be treated as scientifically verified on the evidence described in the review. (“لا وجود لمصادر علمية تؤكدها، إلّا أننا توصلنا في النهاية إلى كونها غير دقيقة ولا تعود لأي مصدر علمي، والقياسات المتداولة للهُوّة سواءً كانت من ناحية العمق أم طول القطر تقديرية.” — S1.)

dpaDisasters & emergencies

Das Pilotensterben häuft sich. Das belegen 4 Fälle innerhalb eines Monats.

Publisher’s rating: Bei keinem der vier erwähnten Fälle ist ein Herzinfarkt bestätigt. Laut der Europäischen Agentur für Flugsicherheit gibt es keine Hinweise dafür, dass die Zahl medizinischer Probleme bei Piloten während des Fluges zugenommen hat.

The claim was based on a Telegram list of four alleged medical emergencies involving pilots in August, two said to have died. The review examined the incidents in that list and whether they supported a pattern of pilot deaths or heart problems. It found one incident could not be verified; in the other three, the causes of illness or death had not been made public. The review therefore concluded that neither heart problems nor sudden, unexpected deaths were established by the available information. The cases had different levels of documentation. For Tigerair flight IT237, Taiwan’s transport safety authority reportedly said the co-pilot lost consciousness after landing in Taipei on August 7, 2023, woke before the aircraft reached its parking position, and was examined; a media report citing Tigerair said he left hospital the next day. The review found no reported cause. In the United Airlines case, the only trace it found was an August 9 post on X with a screenshot, without a source or precise incident date; it could not find reliable reporting and said it remained unclear whether the event had occurred. The LATAM case concerned flight LA505 on August 14 from Miami to Santiago. Reporting based on an airline statement said the pilot lost consciousness, the flight made an emergency landing, and he was declared dead after resuscitation attempts, but no cause was reported. In the Qatar Airways case, reports described a pilot travelling as a passenger who died aboard flight QR579 from Delhi to Doha; the review found no airline statement and no reported cause. These four anecdotes do not establish an increase: the review notes the short time window, lack of comparison with other periods or total flights, and absence of a consistent worldwide dataset. EASA told dpa it saw no indication that in-flight pilot incapacitation rates were higher than before the pandemic.

FalsoDisasters & emergencies

تعرض فريق الانقاذ التركي الى حادث سير

Publisher’s rating: زائف جزئياً

The claim concerned a fatal crash in Libya said to involve Turkish rescuers travelling to Derna. The review identifies the reported location as Qandoula and says the crash occurred on Sunday, 17 September, between a bus carrying Greek rescuers and a car carrying a Libyan family—not a bus carrying Turkish rescuers. It therefore distinguishes the occurrence of the crash from the claim about the rescuers’ nationality. To check the claim, the review says it searched for information about the incident and relied on statements by the Libyan governments at press conferences about developments in Derna. It cites remarks by National Unity Government spokesman Mohammed Hamuda, who offered condolences for the deaths of Greek rescue-team members and Libyan citizens, and by Health Minister Othman Abduljalil, who discussed treatment for the injured at Benghazi Medical Center. The review reports seven deaths: four members of the Greek team and three members of the Libyan family. It also reports 17 injured, including seven critical cases among the Greek team and two among the family. Those figures, along with the cited officials’ identification of the Greek crew, support the review’s conclusion that a real crash was recast in the circulating post as involving Turkish rescuers.

dpaDisasters & emergencies

Deze beelden tonen een tornado in Libië.

Publisher’s rating: De beelden zijn een compilatie van stormen op verschillende plekken ter wereld, op verschillende tijdstippen. Ze hebben niets te maken met de recente overstromingen in Libië.

The claim concerns a circulating video presented as showing a tornado or storms in Libya during the flooding caused by Storm Daniel. The investigation concludes that the footage is a compilation drawn from different places and times, rather than a record of those floods. It notes that Storm Daniel caused dam failures and flooding in Libya in early September, but says there are multiple indications the video was not filmed there. [S1: “Begin september werd Libië opgeschrikt door overstromingen die duizenden mensen het leven kostten.”; “Maar er zijn meerdere aanwijzingen om aan te nemen dat de beelden niet in Libië zijn gemaakt.”] To check the footage, the fact-checkers searched screenshots from the video using reverse image search and compared segments with material found online. They identified the opening ten seconds as footage of Hurricane Matthew’s damage in Florida in 2016, reused in a video by a TikTok account that specializes in digitally created storm imagery. The next segment was traced to a storm near Taihang Mountain Grand Canyon in China’s Shanxi province, in late July. [S1: “Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) achterhaalde de origine van het merendeel van de beelden door op screenshots van de video te zoeken met behulp van Reverse Image Search.”; “Voor deze video maakte het account gebruik van YouTubebeelden die de ravage van orkaan Matthew in Florida in 2016 tonen.”; “De beelden tonen een storm die eind juli heeft plaatsgevonden bij Taihang Mountain Grand Canyon, in de provincie Shanxi.”] Other identifiable parts also point away from Libya: a stadium is identified as the Quanzhou Strait Sports Center Gymnasium in China, where Typhoon Doksuri made landfall on 28 July, and a later tornado segment is identified as being in Kansas in 2022. The investigators could not verify every clip, including the footage of a collapsing sports hall, but found that versions locating it in China’s Fujian province or Japan had been online before Storm Daniel hit Libya. The Arabic word visible in one shot means “Philippines,” not Libya. [S1: “Het stadion dat vanaf 1:01 te zien is, is alvast ook in China. Het gaat om het Quanzhou Strait Sports Center Gymnasium in de stad Quanzhou.”; “Vanaf 2:27 is dan weer een tornado te zien in de Amerikaanse staat Kansas in 2022.”; “De exacte locatie van de sporthal die instort vanaf 0:46 kon dpa niet achterhalen.”; “Echter, het woord is de Arabische naam voor de Filipijnen.”]

مرصد أخبار ميترDisasters & emergencies

تأجيل الدراسة وإجازات مفتوحة.. حقيقة ضرب عاصفة التنين لمصر وتهديد بخسائر كارثية

Publisher’s rating: خبر كاذب - لم تعلن الهيئة العامة للأرصاد الجوية، أي معلومات حول توقع مرور عاصفة التنين على مصر خلال أيام، وردت نافية على أحد متابعيها عبر صفحتها الرسمية على الفيس بوك