Video shows deadly boat crash in Indonesia, not Myanmar

"A collision happened when a military tug boat on route to Gaw Wun Port approached a passenger boat for questioning," reads part of the Burmese-language caption of a Facebook video shared on August 9, 2025.

The video -- which accumulated over 500,000 views -- shows a wooden passenger boat caught between a barge and the tug boat pulling it. Passengers are seen jumping into the murky river as the barge collides with their vessel.

The caption adds the incident took place on the Irrawaddy River between Tagaung and Katha town in central Myanmar.

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Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured on August 12, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

The same video was also shared in similar posts on Facebook, after Myanmar's military junta declared it had recaptured strategic towns in the area (archived link).

In another apparent sign of the military's renewed regional offensive, local media outlet Mizzima reported that a flotilla of junta vessels were seen advancing up the Irrawaddy (archived link).

Myanmar has been mired in civil war since a 2021 coup deposed the civilian government, with the military battling a myriad of pro-democracy guerrillas and ethnic armed organisations.

Junta forces backed by China and Russia have started to claw back ground lost to anti-coup forces who banded together for a string of coordinated offensives in late 2023.

But there have been no official reports of a military vessel colliding with a passenger boat on the Irrawaddy.

Indonesia boat crash

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared clip led to the same footage published as part of a compilation by video news agency Newsflare on July 8 (archived link).

"Passengers leap into river when coal barge hits wooden boat taxi," reads the title of the compilation, which includes clips of the same incident filmed from different angles and the aftermath.

According to its description, it was filmed on the Barito River in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, on July 8.

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Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared clip (left) and the Newsflare video (right)

The video matches features seen in a Google Maps photo taken near a coal jetty on the Barito River (archived link).

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Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and a Google Maps photo (right), with similarities highlighted by AFP

Indonesian news outlet Metro TV also reported on the incident on their verified YouTube channel on July 10 (archived link).

According to a July 10 report by Indonesian news agency Antara, the wooden boat carrying 40 passengers experienced an engine failure and drifted into the path of the barge (archived link).

Rescuers were able to recover the bodies of two passengers, with a third victim still missing.

AFP has previously debunked other misinformation related to the unrest in Myanmar.