Years-old video of river rescue falsely linked to disaster in India's Uttarakhand state

Published on August 22, 2025 at 08:45
3 min read
By Devesh MISHRA, AFP India

After a torrent of muddy water smashed into the town of Dharali in India's Uttarakhand state, killing at least four people with around 100 others missing, a video was shared in posts falsely claiming it showed residents being saved from roaring floodwaters in the tourist region. The video has in fact circulated since July 2022 in news reports about five youths who were rescued from a river swelled by monsoon rains in the neighbouring state of Himachal Pradesh.

"New video from Dharali," reads Hindi-language text superimposed on an Instagram video posted on August 6, 2025.

The clip shows two men who appear to be stranded on a rock in the middle of a fast-flowing river, as people on the riverbank attempt to pull them to safety using a rope.

The footage circulated a day after a torrent of mud tore down a narrow mountain valley in India's Uttarakhand state before smashing into the town of Dharali, killing four people with around 100 others missing (archived link).

Uttarakhand's Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the flood was caused by a sudden and intense "cloudburst", calling the destruction "extremely sad and distressing".

The India Meteorological Department issued a red alert warning for the tourist region, saying it had recorded "extremely heavy" rainfall of around 21 centimetres (eight inches) in isolated parts of Uttarakhand.

Screenshot of the false Instagram post captured on August 22, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

The video was also shared in similar Facebook, Instagram and Threads posts claiming it shows a rescue in Dharali.

But the Uttarakhand police refuted the claim on their verified X account on August 6, calling it "completely false and misleading" (archived link).

"The video has no connection with the Dharali. Please do not spread confusion by sharing wrong information on social media," read their Hindi-language statement.

Himachal Pradesh river rescue

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared clip led to a longer version published on the verified Indian Express Punjab YouTube channel on July 29, 2022 (archived link).

The media outlet's video is titled, "Nalagarh: Five migrants land in river to take photo, stuck in flash flood due to heavy rains".

Nalagarh is a city 200 kilometres (124 miles) west of Dharali, in the neighbouring state of Himachal Pradesh.

According to the video's description, the five men had been trapped by a flash flood caused by recent heavy rains.

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared clip (left) and the Indian Express Punjab video (right)

A screenshot from the footage was also used in a report by The Tribune newspaper (archived link).

"Five youth, who were caught in the midst of gushing river water near Gurukund village in Chikni river, were rescued after much effort by the locals last evening in Nalagarh sub-division," read the report.

The footage used by the Indian Express Punjab corresponds to Google Street View imagery of the landscape near Gurukund (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the Indian Express Punjab footage (left) and Google Street View imagery near Gurukund (right), with corresponding features highlighted by AFP

AFP has previously debunked other false claims related to India's monsoon rains.

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