Educational video falsely linked to deadly flooding in southern China
- Published on July 14, 2026 at 14:47
- 2 min read
- By Chelsea CHAN, Tendai DUBE, AFP Hong Kong, AFP South Africa
After severe flooding in southern China's Guangxi region killed dozens in July 2026, a video claiming to show two people who had drowned began circulating. This is false; the footage, originally posted in May, was cropped to remove a disclaimer identifying it as educational and was shared by an account that posted several similar clips.
"A dramatic video believed to be from Hengzhou, Guangxi, China, has captured the powerful impact of severe flooding sweeping through the region," reads an Instagram video caption published on July 8, 2026, by an account called "Africa News24" with more than 114,000 followers.
The clip shows two people floating facedown in muddy water.
A caption on the screen reads: "At least 4 dead and 8 missing after severe flash floods completely submerge areas of Guangxi, China."
The video has been shared in Chinese posts here and here after torrential rain and severe flooding from Typhoon Maysak wreaked havoc on southern and central China in July, with state media reporting that fast-flowing muddy water had burst the banks of 40 rivers and waterways in Guangxi (archived link).
Natural disasters are common across China, particularly in the summer when some regions experience intense rainfall while others bake in scorching heat. However, the intensity and frequency of global extreme weather events are set to increase as the planet continues to heat up owing to fossil fuel emissions, scientists warn.
While officials said that floods in Guangxi had killed at least 39 people, the video circulating on social media does not show victims of the disaster (archived link).
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to higher-quality footage posted on Douyin on May 30 (archived link).
"Non-professionals are advised not to imitate. This is a drowning prevention education video," reads the simplified Chinese text superimposed on the clip -- which had been cropped out in the version circulating online.
We reached out to the Douyin user for comment, but did not get a response.
They have posted several similar videos on their page, tagging them with text reading "flood escape" and "exercise caution when swimming outdoors" (archived link).
AFP Fact Check often debunks false or misleading posts which surface during or after natural disasters.
Copyright © AFP 2017-2026. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
