Odisha’s Bus Fire Incident Used to Claim People Killed in Kanpur
The video is from Odisha when a bus caught fire upon coming in contact with a power transmission line on 9 February.
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CLAIM
A video doing the rounds on social media claims that several people were killed by a specific community in Mangta village, near Kanpur Dehat district of Uttar Pradesh, where a ‘Budh Katha’ was organised. The video shows bodies of people lying on the ground with bruises and burns on them.
Some Twitter users have also claimed that the incident took place when posters of Bhimrao Ambedkar and Buddha were burnt during the ‘Budh Katha.’
(Note: The Quint has not used the video due to its graphic nature.)
TRUE OR FALSE?
The claim with which the video is being shared is incorrect. The video is from Odisha’s Ganjam district where several people died and many others were injured after a bus caught fire upon coming in contact with a power transmission line on 9 February.
Speaking to The Quint, Prahbat Chandra, Additional SP of Berhampur in Ganjam district corroborated that the video is from the bus fire accident.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We found that the Kanpur Dehat Police had replied to the tweet shared by one Akhilesh stating that the video is not from Kanpur.
We then divided the video into multiple key frames on InVid and reverse searched each frame on Yandex which led us to a video uploaded by a YouTube channel on 9 February and claimed that the incident is from Odisha’s Berhampur.
The video shows the same bus and visuals of some people lying on the floor. The video claims that a bus caught fire after getting in touch with a high voltage power transmission line.
We then searched YouTube using keywords ‘Odisha Berhampur bus high tension’ and found a bulletin uploaded by Odisha TV on 9 February.
On comparing the buses shown in Odisha TV bulletin and the one in the viral video, we found that they are the same.
Further, the police also confirmed that the video is from the same incident.
WHAT HAD HAPPENED IN ODISHA?
Nine people were electrocuted to death and 22 people injured after a bus caught fire upon coming in contact with a power transmission line in Golanthara area, near Berhampur of Odisha’s Ganjam district on 9 February, officials had said.
The injured were admitted to MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur. The people were on their way to attend a marriage negotiation ceremony.
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