Video clip of Andhra Pradesh boat capsize incident on WhatsApp is fake
By Satya Priya BN Published on 20 Sep 2019 3:04 PM GMT
Amaravati: A video clip of a boat tragedy is doing the rounds on WhatsApp. The video clip claims to be of the boat tragedy that recently took place on the river Godavari in Andhra Pradesh. However, the video clip is of a boat incident that took place in the Bay of Bengal on July 7, 2019.
Origin of the Video: The visuals are of a fishing trawler sinking in the Bay of Bengal along with two other fishing trawlers. About 25 Indian fishermen died in the accident.
Fact Check: The background of the video shows only water. There is no trace of hills, trees or mountains in the surrounding area. The visuals of the boat accident that took place on September 15, 2019 from various news sites, show trees and hills in the background. Papikondalu is a picturesque place covered in greenery. The video doing the rounds of WhatsApp was shot in the ocean and not at a river.
After performing reverse image search of the images from the video, Newsmeter found a news article in a website UNIINDIA.com titled "25 fishermen missing after three trawlers drowned and another missing in Turbulent Bay of Bengal" published on July 8, 2019.
Further searches, shows a YouTube link of India TV has the same video uploaded on July 8, 2019. The video is of a fishing trawler that sunk in the Bay of Bengal and fishermen in an adjacent trawler trying to save people aboard.
Why this is not the same boat?
The boat shown in the video looks small with no accommodation for tourists, has nets mainly used for fishing. Visuals of the Royal Vashishta tourist boat show that it had two storeys to carry tourists and was convenient for sightseeing.
As the Godavari boat accident was a recent tragedy, it was thoroughly covered. Some videos shot before the incident have also surfaced in the media showing lush green mountains and forests in the background.
It is clear that there was only one boat travelling on the Godavari at the time of the accident. The language of the people aboard the second boat is NOT telugu.
Claim: Video showing drowning of tourist boat in Godavari River
Claim by : WhatsApp messages
Fact Check : False
