These photos have circulated since 2020 in reports about a deadly boat accident in Bangladesh
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on September 28, 2021 at 08:06
- 2 min read
- By AFP Bangladesh
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The photos were shared in a Bengali-language Facebook post published on September 22.
The post's caption states that 18 Muslim women died after a boat capsized in Mymensingh, a district in northern Bangladesh.
It translates to English as: "In Mymensingh, 18 sisters have memorized the Qur'an. After finishing Hifz, today, on 22nd September, everyone left for a boat trip. On their way back, their boat sank, killing 18 people.
"May Allah grant the beloved sisters the high status of Paradise with the status of martyrs".
"Hifz" is the practice of memorising the Koran.
The post -- which has been shared more than 700 times -- includes one photo of men appearing to dig graves.
The second photo shows a crowd of men wearing traditional Muslim dress.
The photos were shared in Facebook posts here and here alongside a similar claim.
The claim is misleading.
Reverse image searches on Google found the photos featured in a report from August 6, 2020 by the Bangla Tribune.
The headline reads: "Funeral of the victims in boat accident in Madan completed".
Below is the screenshot comparisons of the photos in the misleading Facebook post (L) and the photos in the Bangla Tribune's report (R):
At least 17 people died after a boat capsized in the northern district of Netrokona.
Most of the victims were students and teachers of a local madrasah, an Islamic seminary.
AFP found no credible news reports about a boat accident in Mymensingh on September 22, 2021.
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