Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
Claim
Video shows devastation caused by recent monsoon-induced flooding in Nepal.
Fact
Viral video shows unrelated footage of hurricanes in Puerto Rico and Tsunami in Japan.
Even as reports of monsoon related disasters are making news headlines across the country, many unverified videos and images are circulating online with misleading claims. In this context, a video allegedly showing the mayhem caused by the recent flooding in Nepal is going viral on TikTok.
Against this backdrop, TikTok user @belbahadurthapa130 posted a video showing visuals of a bridge being swept away by flooding, severe flash floods and vehicles being swept away. Text superimposed on the video reads, “This is the current flood situation in Nepal, hit the like button only after watching the video.” The video caption reads, “Where could this clip of a deadly situation come from?”
The video posted on July 7 has garnered 166 likes, and 15 users have commented. The archived version of the TikTok video can be seen here.
Newschecker found the claim to be misleading.
Fact Check /Verification
To check the authenticity of the claim made in the viral video, Newschecker closely observed the video and noted that the video showed mainly three different footage. We, then, split the video into several key frames and conducted reverse searches on them. A reverse on the first clip threw up several videos (See here) of a bridge being swept away in Puerto Rico.
On checking a video, dated September 20, 2022, published on the YouTube channel named South China Morning Post, we found that the video frames exactly matched the viral video. However, we noticed that the footage in the viral video was flipped. The original video showed a bridge being swept away by raging flood waters in Puerto Rico due to Hurricane Fiona on September 19.
Our findings demonstrate that the first clip used in the viral video is actually from the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico.
Further, a reverse search on a frame from the second clip led us to several videos and news articles indicating that the footage was captured during the Kastamonu Bozkurt floods in Turkey. On checking a video, dated August 2021, posted by one Facebook user named Yuvasız Kuşlar, we found that the video clip closely resembled the second clip of the viral video.
We also checked another video, August 14, 2021, published in Turkish media GZT, and found that the video frame matched the second clip of the viral video. With the help of Google translate, we read the caption which indicated that the footage showed the moment of flood in Turkey’s Kastamonu Bozkurt district.
We then conducted a reverse search on the third clip which led us to a video, dated March 9, 2020, and published in 2011 Japan Tsunami Archives. The video showed the moment when a Tsunami hit Japan on March 11 2011. The video from 0.52-minute onwards exactly matched the third clip of the viral video.
Thus, our findings clearly indicated that none of the clips used in the viral video showed the recent floods of Nepal.
Conclusion
No, the viral video doesn’t show the devastation caused by recent floods in Nepal. The viral video actually shows old and unrelated clips from Puerto Rico, Turkey, and Japan. Thus, the claim is misleading.
Result: False
Sources
South China Morning Post/Via AFP, September 20, 2022
Yuvasız Kuşlar /Facebook, August 15, 2021
CGTN, September 20, 2022
GZT, August 14, 2021
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Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
