India has suffered a string of railway disasters over time, however a video shared on-line because the aftermath of a “huge accident” the truth is exhibits a mock prepare crash. The photojournalist who shot the footage confirmed it confirmed a follow train in Lucknow, the capital of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. A spokesman for the nationwide railway authority additionally stated there had been no such accident within the metropolis.
“Large accident within the capital Lucknow at 3:00 am on 26/12/2024, lakhs (a whole lot of 1000’s) of individuals have died and 1000’s injured,” reads Hindi-language textual content on an Instagram video shared on December 27.
The clip, which was considered greater than 3,000 occasions, exhibits the smouldering wreck of a prepare carriage piled up on a burning compartment. Rescue staff look like analyzing the wreckage and making ready to extinguish the flames.
Screenshot of the false Instagram put up, captured on January 7, 2024
The video made the rounds in related posts on Facebook and Instagram, with many social media customers showing to consider it confirmed a real prepare crash.
“Unhappy information, who’s guilty for this?” one commented.
One other wrote: “That is the results of authorities’s corruption; the frequent man suffers.”
India has one of many world’s largest rail networks and has seen several disasters over time (archived link).
The worst occurred in 1981 when a prepare derailed whereas crossing a bridge in Bihar state, killing an estimated 800 folks.
Practically 300 folks have been killed in a three-train collision in Odisha state in June 2023, when a packed passenger prepare was mistakenly diverted onto a loop line and slammed right into a stationary items prepare loaded with iron ore.
The clip circulating on-line, nonetheless, exhibits a prepare accident drill for native rescue staff.
Security drill
A reverse picture search on Google utilizing keyframes from the video discovered the identical footage posted on Instagram by Lucknow-based photojournalist Kumar Raidas on December 20 (archived link).
“Mock drill of the prepare accident in capital Lucknow,” reads the textual content on his video.
Beneath is a screenshot comparability of the falsely shared video (left) and Raidas’s video (proper):
Screenshot comparability of the falsely shared video (left) and Raidas’s video (proper)
“That is footage of an Indian Railways rescue operation train which I recorded at Lucknow Railway Station on December 20,” Raidas, a photojournalist with the Instances of India newspaper, instructed AFP on January 6, 2025.
Deepak Kumar, chief public relations officer of Northern Railway additionally instructed AFP the video confirmed a follow train.
“Northern Railway is conducting many such security drills for the Kumbh Mela in order that we’re ready for any scenario,” he stated on January 6.
“The video is being shared with a false declare. No such accident has taken place in Lucknow.”
Information shops Aaj Tak and Dainik Bhaskar additionally reported on the drill (archived here and here).
A pink signal hooked up to one of many prepare carriages, seen firstly of the Dainik Bhaskar video report reads “Mock drill on prepare accident” and consists of the initials of India’s Nationwide Catastrophe Response Drive.
AFP beforehand debunked a similar claim that misrepresented footage from a coaching train as displaying a real prepare accident in Rajasthan state.
