This video shows snow-trapped mother and child rescued in Indian-administered Kashmir, local police say

This article is more than one year old.
Published on January 17, 2022 at 03:51
Updated on January 17, 2022 at 05:17
2 min read
By Wasi MIRZA, AFP Pakistan

Following a deadly blizzard in January, a video has been viewed tens of thousands of times on social media and news reports alongside a claim it shows the rescue of a woman trapped in heavy snow in Pakistan's resort town of Murree. However, local police told AFP that the video shows the rescue of a mother and her child in the Indian-administered side of the Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir.

"A snow-trapped tourist woman was rescued by locals in Murree and shifted to a hospital for treatment," reads the Urdu-language caption to the video posted on Facebook on January 8.

The one-minute 30-second clip shows a dramatic rescue of what appears to be two persons trapped underneath thick snow.

In the background, someone could be heard repeatedly shouting in the Pahari-Pothwari language: "Yes, she's alive."

The post circulated as heavy snowfall in Pakistan's mountain resort town of Murree trapped tourists in their vehicles and led to at least 22 deaths. AFP reported on the incident here.

Screenshot of the misleading post. Captured January 14, 2021.

The video was shared alongside a similar claim here, here, here and here on Facebook; here, here, here and here on Twitter; and here, here, here, and here on YouTube.

The video was also viewed tens of thousands of times in local reports about the deadly blizzard in Murree by Pakistani news channels GNN, Geo News and 24 News HD.

Sadaqat Ali Khan, a lawmaker from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, also tweeted the video with a similar claim.

However, the video has been shared in a misleading context.

A reverse image search found an identical footage was published here by British video licensing website Newsflare.

"The clip was filmed on January 8 in Manai village in the Poonch district," the video's caption states.

Poonch is a district in the Jammu division of Jammu and Kashmir. A military control line across it separates the area into Indian and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading post (left) and the video from Newsflare (right).

Local police for Poonch district of Indian-administered Kashmir confirmed the video had been shared in a misleading context.

Rohit Basotra, senior police superintendent for Poonch, told AFP: "This incident occurred in our jurisdiction in Surankote area of Poonch district.

"Both the mother and her daughter were rescued by locals from under the snow and they are doing fine now."

The incident was also reported in Indian media outlets here, here, here and here.

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