This aerial photo taken on July 5, 2021 shows water being released from the Xiaolangdi Reservoir Dam in Luoyang in China's central Henan province. AFP / STR

This photo does not show a 'collapsed' dam in central China

This article is more than one year old.
Published on July 26, 2021 at 06:40
3 min read
By AFP South Korea

As floods devastated the central Chinese province of Henan, a photo circulated online alongside a claim it shows a "collapsed" dam in the provincial capital of Zhengzhou. The image, however, has been shared in a misleading context: the photo -- captured by an AFP stringer -- shows water being released from another dam situated about 160 kilometres from the named reservoir.

"The Guojiazui Dam in Communist China, the third to collapse," reads the photo's Korean-language caption shared here on Facebook, on July 22, 2021.

Screenshot of the misleading post. Captured July 23, 2021.

Guojiazui reservoir is located near the city of Zhengzhou, which suffered devastating floods in late July 2021.

The photo was also shared here and here on Facebook; here on Naver Band and here on Naver Blog alongside a similar claim.

Some of the posts included a screenshot of an English-language Twitter post that included the photo.

It reads in part: "According to local media reports, Guojiaju (sic) dam in central China’s Henan province has been collapsed by severe flooding."

The image, however, has been shared in a misleading context.

A reverse image search found the original photo published in this AFP article on July 20, 2021.

The original AFP image can be seen below:

Screenshot of AFP photo. Captured July 23, 2021.

The photo's description reads: "This aerial photo taken on July 5, 2021 shows water being released from the Xiaolangdi Reservoir Dam in Luoyang in China's central Henan province."

Below is a screenshot comparison of the photograph shared in the misleading post (L) and the original image from AFP (R):

Screenshot comparison of the photograph shared in the misleading post (L), and original image from AFP (R)

The Xiaolangdi Reservoir Dam is located on the main stream of the Yellow River -- around 40 kilometres north of Luoyang city in Henan province.

AFP reported that this reservoir was damaged by flooding in late July 2021.

English-language publications from China's Ministry of Water Resources include the reservoir's location here and here,

Different reservoir

The Guojiazui reservoir is situated about 160 kilometres from the Xiaolangdi Reservoir Dam.

"[Authorites] reported a large-scale collapse in the downstream slope of the Guojiazui Reservoir in Zhengzhou, but no dam break has been detected yet", according to an English-language Twitter post on July 21 from CGTN Global Watch, a Chinese state-run media outlet.

The tweet also included a CGTN news clip showing footage of damage at the Guojiazui reservoir:

Screenshot of CGTN news footage showing damage at the Guojiazui Reservoir. Captured July 23, 2021.

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