Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan in Mumbai on February 26, 2020. ( AFP / Sujit Jaiswal)

Old images recirculate in false posts about 'death of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan'

  • This article is more than one year old.
  • Published on October 14, 2021 at 05:02
  • 3 min read
  • By AFP Thailand
Five images have been shared on multiple web pages in October 2021 alongside a claim that Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan died in a plane crash. The claim, however, is false: there have been no credible reports that Khan has died as of October 14, 2021. The hoax has circulated online since at least 2017. The photos show an old plane crash and funerals for two Indian actresses.

The images were published on various websites including here on October 7, 2021.

 

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The misleading article’s screenshot taken on October 12, 2021


The article's Burmese-language headline translates to English as: "Famous Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan died following an accident".

Part of the article translates to English as: "The well-known Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan died in a plane crash".

The misleading posts circulated online after the Bollywood superstar's son was arrested for a drugs related case on October 2, 2021. Reuters reported on the case here.

The article was shared hundreds of times after being shared in multiple Facebook posts, including here.

Similar claims have been shared on multiple websites here, here, here and here, alongside the same images. 

The claim, however, is false. The images all relate to old events.

As of October 14, 2021, there are no credible reports that Khan has died.

Similar hoaxes about Khan have circulated since at least 2017, as reported here by The Indian Express.

Khan photos 

A reverse image search found the images of Khan are old.

The first image was published here on the image-sharing website Peakpx. It was also shared here on a blog in 2012.

The second image was included in this article published on November 23, 2016 by Indian entertainment website FilmiBeat. 

Aircraft image 

The third image was published in this article published on January 17, 2008 on a website called Aviation Accidents.

The article is about a British Airways plane that crash-landed on the runway at London's Heathrow airport in 2008.

The title reads: “BRITISH AIRWAYS – BOEING – B777-236ER (G-YMMM) flight BA38”.

The accident was also reported here on the same day by the BBC.

Below is a screenshot comparison between the image in the misleading article (L) and the photo published by Aviation Accidents (R):

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A screenshot comparison between misleading article’s photo (L) and Aviation Accidents website’s photo (R)

Funerals of Indian actresses

Another reverse image search on Google found the fourth image was published in news reports about Indian actress Sridevi’s funeral in 2018.

The report's headline reads: "Sridevi death: Anil Kapoor thanks Mumbai police for being supportive".

The article reads in part: "Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor, who was also the brother-in-law of late Sridevi, has put out a social media post thanking family, friends and Mumbai Police for being supportive in their tough times."

Below is a screenshot comparison between the image in the misleading article (L) and the photo published by the Hindustan Times (R): 

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A screenshot comparison between the image in the misleading article (L) and the photo published by the Hindustan Times (R)

Multiple keywords search found the fifth image published in news reports about Indian actress Jiah Khan’s funeral in 2013.

The headline reads: "Jiah Khan: Bollywood star found dead by mother in Mumbai home".

The photo's caption reads: "Jiah Khans mother Rabiya & Sister mourns during her funeral at Santa Cruz graveyard in Mumbai on Wednesday, 05 June 2013".

Below is a screenshot comparison of the image in the misleading article (L) and The Mirror’s photo (R):

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A screenshot comparison of the image in the misleading article (L) and The Mirror’s photo (R)

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