Video of rushing flood waters destroying houses is from Colombia, not Thailand

A video of an avalanche of rushing water and mud washing away houses in Colombia has been viewed millions of times in Thai social media posts that falsely claimed it showed floods in the Southeast Asian country in September 2024. However, the video was recorded months before Typhoon Yagi hit Thailand, triggering deadly floods and landslides, and actually shows flash floods in Colombia.

"So scary. Massive floods are sweeping everything ahead away," read Thai-language sticker text on a TikTok video shared on September 16.

Additional Burmese-language text below read: "The flood is also serious in Thailand."

The 31-second clip shows a massive rush of water and mud destroying houses in its path.

A person can be heard saying in Burmese: "In Thailand, the flood is as serious as Myanmar. But they try to escape and don't go around checking the situation themselves and stay out of the way. The rescue teams also arrive in advance. Those are the differences."

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Screenshot of the false post, taken on October 8, 2024

The same footage was also viewed more than 2.2 million times in a compilation video alongside claims it showed deadly floods triggered by Typhoon Yagi in September.

Northern Thailand was seriously affected, with one district on the Myanmar border reporting its worst floods in 80 years, AFP reported (archived link).

However, the video -- which shows a man wearing a jacket with "Bomberos Colombia" (Colombia firemen) on the back -- was filmed in May in the Latin American country.

Colombia floods

A reverse image search using one of the keyframes from the clip led to the same video posted on May 5 on Facebook by a local media outlet, Periodico El Suroeste (archived link).

The Spanish-language caption read, in part, "an emergency was reported in the La Honda and Zarcitos villages in the municipality of #Montebello".

It also said three people were injured and 30 homes were destroyed.

The video also shows a man wearing rescue personnel attire, including a jacket that says "Colombia firemen" in Spanish-language text on the back.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip in the false post (left) and the clip shared on Periodico El Suroeste's Facebook page (right):

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Screenshot comparison of the clip in the false post (left) and the clip shared on Periodico El Suroeste's Facebook page (right)

Separate searches using Spanish keywords also found a news report on YouTube about the destruction in Montebello, published by another local media outlet, Noticias Caracol, on the same date (archived link). 

The footage, dated May 4, shows the same area of Montebello, a municipality in Colombia's Antioquia, as seen in the video accompanying the false posts.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip in the false post (left) and the clip in Noticias Caracol's report (right), with corresponding features marked by AFP:

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Screenshot comparison of the clip in the false post (left) and the clip in Noticias Caracol's report (right), with corresponding features marked by AFP

AFP has previously debunked other misinformation related to Typhoon Yagi here and here.