Old video of child rescue from Bangladesh shared as recent from Chambal
A video of an operation to save a child from drowning is viral on social media. Users claim that it happened in Chambal river.
By Md Mahfooz Alam Published on 2 Sep 2022 6:31 AM GMT
A video of an operation to save a child from drowning is viral on social media. Users claim that it happened in Chambal river.
In the video, the child can be seen gasping for breath and struggling to stay afloat as a group of men in boats reach to rescue him.
Several Indian media outlets picked up the incident and misreported it as from the Chambal River. The Chambal is a tributary of Yamuna River in central and northern India.
The archived version of the misleading reports by JanSatta, NBTand Hindustancan be accessed (here), (here), and (here).
The caption along with the video reads: "जिंदगी और मौत के बीच, अक्सर जीत जिंदगी को होती है। कुछ ऐसा ही चंबल नदी में देखने को मिला, जब एक बच्चा बाढ़ की वजह से चंबल नदी में फंस गया। इस दौरान उसके चारों ओर मगरमच्छ थे, लेकिन बच्चे ने संघर्ष और साहस का परिचय देते हुए जिंदगी और मौत के बीच आखिरकार जिंदगी की जंग जीत ली। रेस्क्यू टीम ने बच्चे को सकुशल बाहर निकाल लिया।"
"Between life and death, life often wins. Something similar was seen in the Chambal River when a child got stuck in the Chambal River due to floods. There were crocodiles around him, but the child, showing struggle and courage, finally won the battle. The rescue team took the child out safely," read the English translation of the caption.
Link to the post: https://fb.watch/fg10zaeOyp/
The archive link to the post: https://archive.is/1Qshz
Several other users have shared the video on Twitter and Facebook with the misleading caption. An archive of the same can be accessed here (here), (here), and (here).
Fact Check:
NewsMeter fragmented the video using the InVidWeVerify Google chrome extension and performed a reverse image search on the keyframes. We found many Facebook users from Bangladesh shared the video in June 2022.
Rokibul Islam Afridi, a Facebook user, posted the video on 19 June 2022 with a Bangla caption, which reads in English: "The sky became heavy with the sound of the little child #PrayForSylhet".
Taking a cue from this, we searched the video using keywords and found the same video uploaded by a YouTube channel, BD Travellers21, on 27 August 2021.
The video is tagged as from Chandpur, a district in Chittagong, Bangladesh. "The boy was rescued from drowning from the estuary of the three rivers of Chandpur. Dangerous Place," read the title.
The description of the video said that Chandpur is a confluence of three rivers where accidents are common. It further says, "The boy was rescued due to good luck."
Further, we searched about Chandpur and found an article published by Rtv News.
According to the article: Padma, Meghna, and Dakatiya Rivers meet in Chandpur. The confluence of three rivers transforms into a "mysterious death well"; hundreds of people, launches, and cargo have gone missing in this triangle.
We found several social media users from Bangladesh sharing the video and also found it uploaded by a Bangladesh-based YouTube channel on 27 August 2021.
Therefore, we conclude that the video is from Bangladesh.
