Clip shows boat capsizing in DR Congo, not Indian navy vessel ramming ferry
- Published on December 25, 2024 at 08:19
- 3 min read
- By Akshita KUMARI, AFP India
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"Boat capsizes while coming from Alibaug to Gateway of India, painful video goes viral," read a Hindi-language Facebook post on December 21, 2024.
It included a 35-second clip -- overlaid with text making the same claim -- showing an overcrowded vessel that tilts heavily to one side before it sinks.
The post surfaced after Indian authorities said a navy speedboat undergoing tests off Mumbai lost control and slammed into a ferry (archived link).
The incident killed at least 15 people, Indian media organisation ANI reported (archived link).
The ferry was carrying passengers from the Gateway of India -- a colonial-era monument on the waterfront that is symbolic of Mumbai -- to the popular tourist spot of Elephanta Island, famous for its rock carvings.
"A Navy craft undergoing engine trials lost control and collided with a passenger ferry," India's navy said in a statement, adding that it regretted the "tragic loss" of lives.
The navy said there had been an "engine malfunction".
The video was also shared with similar false claims on X and Facebook.
AFP has previously debunked posts that have misrepresented the video as showing an incident in the southwestern Indian state of Goa.
A keyword search on Google found that similar footage was published by The Associated Press news agency on YouTube on October 4, 2024 (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 posts (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 the international media reports, the death toll was around 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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