Fact-Check: Old Photos Shared as Recent Visuals From Assam Floods

Four out of five images from the viral posts are old photographs from Assam.

Fact-check: The claim states that these photos show the recent flood that hit Assam which, according to the claim, has affected 2 lakh people in 24 districts and left seven dead.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A set of five images is being shared across social media to claim that these photos are from the recent floods in Assam, which has affected over 6.6 lakh people and claimed the lives of at least nine.

However, we found that out of the five photos, four are old pictures from Assam.

One image is recent and shows a derailed train from Assam's New Haflong station. This incident took place on 17 May 2022.

CLAIM

Five different photographs were shared together in connection with the ongoing Assam floods.

The caption of the viral post said in Punjabi, "Heavy rains in Assam, more than 2 lakh people affected in 24 districts, 7 dead so far; Heavy rain alert in Kerala (sic)."

Archived post can be seen here. 

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

Archives of more posts shared with the same claim can be seen here, here, here, and here.

IMAGE 1

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

On conducting a Google reverse image search on the photograph, we came across an article published on India Today on 29 July 2016.

The article titled 'Lakhs displaced, rhinos killed: Move over Gurgaon, it's the Assam floods that really need our attention' carried the same photo, which was credited to news agency PTI.

We then looked up PTI archives and found the picture from 28 July 2016, which stated that it showed villagers moving past submerged houses in Assam.

We found the image on PTI archives. 

(Source: PTI/Screenshot)

IMAGE 2

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

We performed a reverse image search on Google on this photo and came across an article published on Business Today on 16 July 2019.

The article was about floods in Assam in 2019, but no picture credit was mentioned.

On searching with the keywords mentioned in the caption of the photograph 'Morigaon district floods Assam,' we came across an article on The Times of India from the same, which credited the picture to PTI.

We could then trace the picture back to the news agency's archives.

The image is from Morigaon district, Assam. 

(Source: PTI/Screenshot)

IMAGE 3

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

On conducting a reverse image search on the photo, we found out that The Indian Express had used this image in an article published on 28 August 2021.

The report mentioned about the flood that had hit Assam in August 2021. It mentioned that 15 districts and two lakh people were affected in Assam.

It also credited the photo to 'Human International,' an organisation that helps the people affected during disasters. The account had tweeted the picture in August 2021.

The photo was taken in 2021 at Assam. 

(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

IMAGE 4

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

On conducting a revere image search, we came across a news article published on The Hindu in September 2017, which carried this picture.

The picture caption mentioned that the picture was taken in "flood-affected Morigaon district of Assam on 14 August 2017."

We could also find this picture with 'Shutterstock,' which is a stock image website, but couldn't trace the link to the website. However, the details read that it was a picture from 2017.

We found the picture with a 'Shutterstock' watermark. 

(Source: Google Images/Screenshot)

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