Video of deadly boat capsize in DR. Congo falsely portrayed as India accident

Published on October 10, 2024 at 03:44
Updated on October 10, 2024 at 03:46
3 min read
By Devesh MISHRA, AFP India

A video of an overcrowded passenger boat capsizing in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been viewed tens of thousands of times in social media posts falsely claiming it shows an accident near the Indian coastal resort state of Goa. The incident in the DRC on October 3 killed at least 78 people. There were no official reports of a boat capsizing near Goa when the false posts circulated.

"Goa accident today 23 bodies recovered 40 people rescued and 64 missing... Greed of the boat owner in overloading, overconfidence of travellers too. Very sad, tragic," read the Facebook post shared on October 5, 2024.

The 53-second clip -- viewed more than 2,700 times -- shows a vessel packed with passengers capsizing before it sinks. People can be seen swimming away from the boat.

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

Some social media users appeared to believe that the video showed an accident near the Indian coastal resort state of Goa.

"Oh Goa, the ship didn't have enough life-saving jackets... or floating jackets", one user wrote.

"Goa administration should take note of such incidents and punish the boat owners", wrote another.

The video was shared with a similar false claim in a post viewed more than 26,000 times on X here and Facebook here.

Goa police refuted the claim in a post on X on October 5, 2024. The post read: "Official Clarification: A video circulating on social media claims a boat capsized near Goa's shores. This is false. The incident occurred in Goma, Congo, Africa. Please refrain from sharing unverified news. -- Goa Police."

Lake Kivu accident

A keyword search on Google found that similar footage was published by the Associated Press news agency on YouTube on October 4 (archived link).

The video's headline read: “Video shows moment boat sinks in eastern Congo, killing at least 78.”

According to the video description, the footage was "filmed by a witness" and "shows the moment an overcrowded boat capsized on Lake Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least 78 people".

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the false post (left) and the AP video on YouTube (right):

Screenshot comparison of the video in the false post (left) and the AP video on YouTube (right)

AFP reported on October 3 that rescuers had recovered at least 23 bodies after a boat that was reportedly carrying hundreds of people capsized on the same day, on Lake Kivu in eastern DRC (archived link).

According to international media reports, the death toll later rose to at least 78 (archived link). Around 278 people were aboard the vessel when it capsized, a local official said -- but it was only meant to carry 80, the Guardian newspaper reported, citing survivors (archived link).

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