Video of Boats Colliding in Kerala Falsely Shared as One From Lakshadweep

This video is from December 2023 and shows an accident after a boat race in Kerala.

The video is from Kerala and was taken during a boat race competition. 

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Amid diplomatic row between India and the Maldives, a video of two boats crashing into each other is being shared as one from Lakshadweep. Additionally, people on one of the boats can be seen toppling off the boat.

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Facebook/Screenshot)

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is this true?: This claim is false.

• The video is from 3 December 2023 and shows an accident during the Champions Boats League (CBL) in the Pandanandu village in Kerala's Alappuzha district.

How did we find out?: We divided the viral video into multiple keyframes and ran a Google reverse image search on some of them.

• We came across multiple videos matching the frames of the viral video.

• First, this video from Asianet News from 3 December 2023. We compared the frames and found similarities.

Here are the similarities between the two.

(Altered by The Quint)

• The video's description read that the accident took place during the CBL Boat Race held at Chengannur Pandanad where a boat rammed into Chundan boat.

• Similar videos taken from different angles showing the same accident can be found here, here and here.

• Upon conducting a keyword search, we came across news report by Manorama Online from December 2023, which said that the winning boat, named Veeyapuram Chundan, crashed into the other one while celebrating their victory.

• In terms of injuries, a rower in Chudan was injured in the accident and was rushed to a hospital.

How did the accident happen?: After winning the title, Chundan rowed quickly back to the pavilion from the finishing point.

• A boat lying near the pavilion suddenly moved towards the middle of the river, causing the collision.

• Local media outlet Pathanamthitta Media published a story about this accident on 3 December.

Conclusion: Social media users have falsely shared this video from Kerala as one from Lakshadweep in order to create misleading perceptions about the tourism experience on the archipelago.

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