This image showing a line of helicopters was taken in the US, not Sri Lanka

This article is more than one year old.
Published on January 27, 2022 at 05:57
Updated on January 27, 2022 at 06:05
3 min read
By AFP Sri Lanka

An image of a line of helicopters on a street has circulated in social media posts alongside a claim it shows an entourage for the youngest son of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in the capital Colombo. But the image has been shared in a false context. Although Rajapaksa's youngest son has previously told local media he enjoys traveling by helicopter, the photo was actually taken in the US. As of January 27, 2022, there have been no official reports that he recently arrived in the capital by helicopter.

The image was shared in a Facebook post on January 19, 2022.

It claims the photo shows several helicopters carrying Rohitha Rajapaksa -- son of prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and nephew to president Gotabaya Rajapaksa -- and his entourage to Colombo Racecourse in the island nation's capital.

The Sinhala-language text overlay translates as: "Around midnight yesterday, [Rohitha Rajapaksa] arrived at the racecourse with several helicopters accompanying him.

"They had landed the helicopters on the road in front of the Mcdonald's...What is happening to my country."

The post's caption reads: "No playing around during [President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's] era of governance."

Screenshot of the false Facebook post. Captured January 21, 2022.

Rohitha Rajapaksa told Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror newspaper in January 2015 that he and his family "like to travel in helicopters".

The Rajapaksas were accused of misusing aircraft owned by the Sri Lanka Air Force -- including its helicopters -- during the January 2015 presidential election campaign, local media reported.

Comments on the post indicated some social media users believed it shows a line of helicopters transporting the prime minister's youngest son to Colombo.

One wrote: "What a waste of money. Could they not choose someplace else to land than the road in front of the Racecourse?"

Another said: "Wonder who they were aiming the show at? After the fire at McDonalds, there is no crowd there."

The same image was also shared alongside a similar claim in Facebook posts here and here.

However, the image was actually taken in the US.

A reverse image search found the image was published here in a 2018 Chinese post titled:
"[Nightstalker] US Army 160th special operations aviation regiment."

The image is captioned: "The U.S. Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) is the only aviation unit in the U.S. Army Special Operations Forces. It is also known as 'Viper' and with the code name 'Nightstalker'.

"They are mainly responsible for providing helicopter transport and attack support to the Delta Force and other special forces."

Below is a screenshot comparison of the image in the false post (L) and the photo in the Chinese post (R):

Screenshot comparison between the misleading post image (L) and the photo published in the Chinese post (R): ( Lakna PARANAMANNA)

A further keyword search on Google found the image was also shared in this Reddit thread in July 2019.

Although the Reddit thread's caption incorrectly states the image was taken in Los Angeles, another Reddit user accurately commented that it was captured here in New Orleans.

The same location is shown here on Google Street View. It features buildings that correspond with those seen in the image shared in the misleading posts.

AFP has highlighted in yellow the corresponding parts of the image in the misleading posts (L) and the location on Google Street View (R):

There were similarities between the landmarks in the misleading posts' photo and street view images of the location as seen in the comparison below; similarities have been highlighted in yellow by AFP. ( Lakna PARANAMANNA)

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