Video of car swept away by flood was filmed in Nicaragua, not India
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on June 26, 2023 at 09:48
- Updated on June 27, 2023 at 11:14
- 3 min read
- By AFP India
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Warning: graphic footage
"Dandeli, Karnataka, Never act too smart," reads the caption to the video shared on Facebook on June 15.
Dandeli is a town in Karnataka, the southern Indian state reportedly inundated with monsoon rains that month.
The one-minute 55-second clip shows a car swept away by the current as it tries to cross what appears to be a riverbed.
The video was shared here and here on Facebook with a similar claim.
A tweet sharing the video also linked it to cyclone Biparjoy which pummelled the western Indian state of Gujarat and Pakistan's neighbouring Sindh province in June. Another tweet claimed the footage was taken in South Africa's Western Cape province during recent flooding (archived here).
However, a Google reverse search of the video's keyframes, followed by keyword searches, found it was filmed in Nicaragua.
The clip corresponds to longer footage uploaded on the verified YouTube channel of Nicaraguan broadcaster 100% Noticias on May 29 (archived link).
The Spanish title of the video translates to English as: "Driver was dragged by strong currents due to rain in Managua".
Managua is the capital of Nicaragua.
The description with the YouTube video reads in part: "The driver of a four-wheel drive truck was swept away this Monday by a strong current of water in a Managua riverbed that divides Veracruz from Las Jagüitas."
It says police have identified the man driving the car as 48-year-old Alberto Uriel Romero.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in one of the false posts (left) and the report by 100% Noticias (right):
A report about the incident uploaded on the YouTube channel of Nicaraguan TV channel VOS TV on June 1 shows a journalist standing at the accident site (archived link).
The journalist says in the report: "I am at the scene of the tragedy, the place that has basically gained notoriety this week, where Mr. Alberto Romero, 48 years old, died aboard his truck after being dragged by the strength of the channel behind me."
The bridge shown behind him corresponds to the video shared in the false posts as shown in the screenshot comparison below:
June 27, 2023 Updated with tweet from South Africa
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