Video shows water spraying from cracks in road in Guatemala, not India
- Published on September 23, 2024 at 03:54
- 3 min read
- By Devesh MISHRA, AFP India
Copyright © AFP 2017-2024. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
The clip, which was viewed more than 860,000 times, was shared on social media platform X on September 16, 2024.
It shows water spraying from cracks in a road as vehicles drive around them.
"Mr Modi what kind of technology is this," read the clip's caption, referring to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The clip was also shared elsewhere on X here, as well as on Facebook here and here.
It circulated as Indian media outlets reported that several regions hit by intense monsoon rains triggered deadly floods and landslides, and caused damage to thousands of kilometres of roads (archived links here, here and here).
Rains cause widespread destruction every year, but experts say climate change is shifting weather patterns and increasing the number of extreme weather events.
The clip circulating online, however, was not filmed in India.
Guatemalan road
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the clip led to the same footage shared on X by "Clima Guatemala" on September 12, 2024 (archived link).
The video's Spanish-language caption read: "Take precautions at kilometre 14 on the Pacific route. Asphalt is rising due to excess rainwater in drains and manholes."
Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip shared in the false posts (left) and the footage shared by Clima Guatemala (right):
A still from the video was included in a news report by the Prensa Libre newspaper on September 12 (archived link).
The clip was embedded in other Guatemalan news reports, including here and here (archived links here and here).
According to the Spanish-language report by the newspaper La Hora, the video shows a section of the CA-9 motorway near to the city of Villa Nueva.
Elements from Google Street View imagery taken in July 2016 match the footage circulating online (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and the Google Street View imagery (right), with corresponding features highlighted by AFP:
AFP has previously debunked posts that misrepresented footage from Guatemala here.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
