Fact Check: 2013 news about INS Sindhurakshak sinking falsely shared as recent news
The report, whose screenshot has gone viral, was published in 2013 when the submarine INS Sindhurakshak sank.
By Md Mahfooz Alam Published on 10 Jun 2023 7:11 PM IST
Hyderabad: A screenshot of what looks like a news report headline, āSubmarine INS Sindhurakshak sinks after blasts; shows sub-par naval abilitiesā is doing rounds on the Internet.
A Twitter user shared the screenshot claiming that after the June 2 tragic train accident in Odisha, an Indian submarine met with an accident and sank. The user blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the accident.
(Source: Twitter/@arjundsage1)
Click here to see the archived version of the post
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the report, whose screenshot has gone viral, was published in 2013 when the submarine INS Sindhurakshak sank.
Taking the cue from the headline, we ran a keyword search and found that the report was published by The Economics Times on August 15, 2013.
It said a massive fire had lit up the sky near the Mumbai Naval Docks in Colaba around midnight after a series of explosions tore through INS Sindhurakshak, a Russia-made Kilo class submarine commissioned in 1997.
It also described the accident that gutted and sank INS Sindhurakshak as Indiaās worst naval accident in at least three decades. The report also carried the same image of the submarine as seen in the viral screenshot.
(Source: The Economics Times)
A September 2014 NDTV report said that the explosion on board INS Sindhurakshak in August 2013 had caused the death of 18 sailors. It also mentioned that the internal inquiry into the incident had revealed that the explosion happened due to a violation of critical Standard Operating Procedures, or SoPs.
On performing a reverse image search of the submarine in the viral screenshot, we found it in a Reuters report about the submarine blast from August 14, 2013.
It carried eleven photos, including the viral image of the submarine. The description of the image reads, āThe Indian Navyās Sindhurakshak submarine is docked in Visakhapatnam in this February 13, 2006 file photo.ā
(Source: Reuters)
Hence, we conclude that a screenshot of a report describing a naval accident from 2013 of the Indian submarine INS Sindhurakshak sinking is being falsely shared as recent news.
