Fact Check: Viral video of a family being washed away is from Bihar's 2017 flood, not Assam
A five-year-old video clip showing three people being washed away in an overflowing river from Bihar’s Araria district is being shared as a recent incident from Assam, as parts of the state face a severe flood situation. The shocking video shows a family getting washed away along with a bridge that collapsed over a raging water stream. The video has been posted and shared by many social media (Facebook) users with the claim that the incident recorded in the video happened recently in Assam, as the state is facing a disastrous situation due to incessant rain and flash floods caused by it.
The 31-second video clip shows a family of three – a woman, a girl, and a man – trying to cross a damaged bridge that stands over fast-flowing water. Just as they get to the end of the bridge, it collapses, with all three of them swept away by the water along with the debris. Onlookers helplessly watch them float away. The video has become viral as Facebook users share this video on the pretext of the recent Assam Floods and Landslide disasters. The state of Assam has declared a flood situation across 20 districts, where southern parts of Assam – Dima Hasao and Barak Valley are worst affected. Almost 1 lakh people are being affected by the floods in Barak Valley, and many people have sought shelter in Government-run relief camps. As many as seven people have died in Dima Hasao and in Barak Valley due to drowning, boat capsizing, and landslides. The district administrations of Barak Valley has alerted people and urged them not to fall for rumour-mongering and fake news, as it is creating panic among the real victims of the disaster.
The viral videos with fake claims can be seen here:
Fact Check:
Barak Bulletin has performed reverse image search with the key frame taken from the video and found that the video is five year old; it has no connection with the recent Assam Floods. The video was recorded somewhere in Bihar’s Araia district in August, 2017, when the state of Bihar was facing a severe flood.
Barak Bulletin found several news reports describing the incident recorded in the video. One NDTV report from August 20, 2017, reported that the incident took place in the Araria district of Bihar. A Scroll article reported about the same incident on August 18, 2017. An article by India Today published on August 17 claimed that the incident happened on August 13, 2017 in Bihar’s Araria district and the video was recorded by a local. Barak Bulletin also found a report by The Quint which confirmed the incident where three people died. More than 250 people died in 2017 Bihar Flood, almost 1.3 crore people were affected by that flood.
Hence it is clear that the viral posts are fake and the video is not recorded during the recent flood in Assam.
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