Fact Check: Video of building collapse in Shimla is from 2021, not 2023

Hyderabad: Amid the destruction caused by torrential rainfall, flash floods and landslides in Himachal Pradesh, a video showing the collapse of a multi-storey building is going viral on social media, with users claiming that the video is from Shimla.

A Twitter user shared the video with the caption, “#WATCH: A multi-storey building collapsed in Kachighati area of Shimla on thursday after heavy rains. Building was evacuated by local administration #HimachalFloods #HimachalPradesh. (sic)”

Click here, here, here and here to access the archive of the post.

Himachal Pradesh, yet to recover from the havoc wrecked by cloudbursts and floods last weekend, has announced a Yellow Alert due to “active monsoon conditions” from July 15-17.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the video is from Shimla but from 2021.

On performing a reverse image search on the keyframes of the video, we found the same video posted by a Facebook account on October 1, 2021. The caption states that the video is from Shimla.

A video report by The Tribune from September 30, 2021, shot from a different angle, showed the same visuals as seen in the viral video.

It said in the caption that a multi-storey building collapsed in the Kachighati area of Shimla, which damaged two other buildings. It also mentioned that the building was vacated before the collapse, and no loss of life was reported.

India TV and NDTV also reported the incident with the same details on September 30, 2021.

Hence, we conclude that the video of a building collapse in Shimla in 2021 is being falsely shared as a recent incident.