Video shows trash in Haiti, not at Burning Man
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on September 7, 2023 at 22:26
- 3 min read
- By AFP USA
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"New video just released of people trying to flee Burning Man caught in a river of trash. This is how Ebola spreads!!!" says a September 3, 2023 post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The post includes a clip of garbage flowing down a flooded road.
The footage circulated elsewhere on X and Rumble following torrential rains in Nevada. The deluge and ensuing floods prevented tens of thousands of people from leaving Burning Man, an annual counterculture event hosted in a remote patch of the desert.
But the video shared online is unrelated to the festival around which other misinformation has swirled including unfounded rumors of an Ebola outbreak.
The September 3 post reshares a clip from December 2018 (archived here), whose caption indicates it was taken in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The video features people speaking in Haitian Creole.
AFP found the same clip on X posted weeks earlier.
"This was last night at Toussaint Louverture Blvd. & Rue Theodade in Port au Prince," says a November 15, 2018 post from a local account (archived here).
#PHTK ruling party founder Michel #Martelly recently called #Haiti a latrine. While his family & party cronies empty state coffers, NO money is left 4 infrastructure like sewage & garbage systems. This was last night at Toussaint Louverture Blvd. & Rue Theodade in Port au Prince. pic.twitter.com/LLTdNTIYEg
— HaitiInfoProj (@HaitiInfoProj) November 15, 2018
Another post shared November 14, 2018 says: "Some rain in Haiti and this is what happens in Port-au-Prince" (archived here).
AFP also found the clip circulating on Facebook on November 14, 2018, after rain that day in Port-au-Prince, according to historical weather data (archived here).
A reverse image search revealed the "Sol" logo in the video belongs to an energy company serving the Caribbean and Central and South America (archived here).
Several Sol gas stations are located in Port-au-Prince, according to Google Maps -- including one at the intersection of Toussaint Louverture Boulevard and Gerard Teodart Avenue (archived here). The features in the video shared online appear to match those in a photo taken at that location.
Waste management is a recurring problem in Haiti. Trash often accumulates alongside canals and streets after rainstorms in the country's capital due to a weak sewage system.
AFP has fact-checked other false and misleading claims about Burning Man here.
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