Fact Check: Tirupati stampede victim’s father couldn’t afford ambulance trip? No, video is from 2022
A video of a man carrying the body of a child on a bike has gone viral as the helplessness of victims of the Tirupati stampede who couldn’t afford an ambulance trip from the hospital.
By Md Mahfooz Alam Published on 9 Jan 2025 4:58 PM IST
Claim: The video shows a child who lost his life in the recent Tirupati stampede, and the father, unable to afford an ambulance, had to carry his body on the pillion seat of a bike.
Fact: The claim is false. While the claim about the ambulance is true, the video is from 2022 when the child lost his life undergoing treatment at Tirupati’s RUIA hospital.
(Warning: This article contains sensitive content that some readers may find disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.)
Hyderabad: On January 8, a tragic stampede occurred at the Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, leaving at least six dead and over 40 injured. The stampede occurred when hundreds of devotees jostled for Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam tickets.
In this context, a video circulating on social media shows a man picking a child covered by a white sheet on a stretcher and sitting on the pillion seat of a motorbike carrying the body. An ambulance can be seen beside the bike.
The accompanying claim alleges that the child lost his life in the recent stampede on Tirumala Hills, and the father, unable to afford the ambulance, had to transport the body from the hospital on a bike.
The text in the video reads, “They asked Rs 20,000 for an ambulance to transport a 12-year-old child who died in Tirupati Government Hospital. The child’s father carries his son 90 km due to lack of money!”
An X user shared the video (warning: visuals of a deceased child) and wrote, “A father could not even get an ambulance for his son’s body? The innocent child lost his life in the Tirupati accident.” (Translated from Hindi) (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The video shows a father transporting his son’s body on a motorbike after the child died during treatment at Tirupati’s RUIA hospital in 2022.
A reverse search of the video’s keyframe led us to the same footage shared by the current Andhra Pradesh chief minister, N Chandrababu Naidu, on April 26, 2022.
In his post on X, he stated that the child, Jesava, had tragically passed away at Tirupati’s RUIA hospital. Naidu highlighted that the family was unable to arrange an ambulance due to the exorbitant fees demanded for transporting the child home for the final rites. He also criticised Andhra Pradesh’s crumbling healthcare infrastructure under the administration of the then CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
The incident was also reported by Deccan Herald and The Hindu in April 2022.
According to their reports, the 10-year-old boy had been admitted to the Sri Venkateshwara Ramnarain Ruia Government General Hospital for treatment of kidney and liver ailments but tragically passed away. The grieving father was left shocked when ambulance drivers demanded Rs 10,000 (some reports claimed Rs 20,000) to transport his son’s body. With no other option, the father had to carry his child’s body on the pillion seat of a relative’s two-wheeler.
Another report by The Hindu from April 2022 stated that, following the incident, the State government ordered the suspension of Dr Saraswati, the resident medical officer of Sri Venkateswara Ramnarain Ruia Government General Hospital (GGH) in Tirupati. This action was taken after the heartbreaking incident of a man carrying his son’s body on a motorcycle came to light.
The Andhra Pradesh police and the AP State government’s fact-check unit have clarified on X after the video went viral, stating that the incident of a father carrying his son’s body on a bike is from 2022 and is being falsely linked to the recent Tirupati stampede.
Therefore, we conclude that the video is from 2022. The claim is false.
