CLAIM
Amid the Coronavirus outbreak (Covid-19) in China’s Wuhan, a viral video claims that the Chinese government has started killing coronavirus-infected patients. Over 25,000 patients have already been killed, the claim reads.
In the viral video, till 0: 14 seconds, three armed officers dressed in overcoats can be seen walking on the streets. From 0:15 seconds till 0: 35 seconds, bodies of people can be seen lying on the ground with gunfiring being heard in the background. From 0:36 seconds, a man dressed in a yellow jacket can be seen lying on the ground with people talking in their local dialect.
Several social media users including Rangoli Chandel, sister of actor Kangana Ranaut, shared the video on Twitter and YouTube with the same claim.
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The Quint received queries on the claim made in the viral video on its WhatsApp helpline by multiple users.
TRUE OR FALSE?
The claim along with the video is misleading. The viral video is a combination of three different videos. According to China Global Television Network , the first part shows armed officers dealing with a rabid dog. While the third part of the video shows a man being hit in an accident.
The Quint has not been able to independently verify the second part of the video.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
PART 1
The viral video is a combination of three different videos. Let’s look at each of them one by one. Below is the screengrab of the footage seen from 0:36 seconds to 0:45 seconds.
We searched on TweetDeck using keywords “China video fake” and found that a user had shared a tweet posted by China Global Television Network (CGTN). The China-based news organisation mentioned that the video in question is fake.
A France based fact-checking organisation France 24 Observer was able to find out that the footage from 0:36 seconds in the viral video is from a small town of Wuzu, located around 200 km east of China’s Wuhan.
“I can confirm that the scene was filmed in Wuzu, in front of the Siyuan school on 29 January 2020. I live next door and several of my friends passed by at the time of the drama. But, contrary to what people are saying on Twitter, the person on the ground is not a woman, he is a young man, and he was not killed by the police, rather he had a motorcycle accident,” a resident of Wuzu told France 24 Observer.
The resident also shared screenshots of discussions held in a group of Wuzu residents on the WeChat app, and another video showing the same scene, filmed from a moving car.
One of the messages read: “Two teenagers were driving too fast on a scooter. They crashed into the side of the road and lost control. The driver of the scooter died."
The organisation also received a press release from the director of the Wuzu police station, Commissioner Zhao.
PART 2
Below is the screengrab of the footage seen from till 0:14 seconds.
Another tweet shared by CGTN reads: “Police in Yiwu, Zhejiang said online video alleging them "shooting people sick with coronavirus that refuse to be evacuated" is fake.”
The tweet shows the same visuals as shown in the first part of the video till 0:14 seconds.
According to the police, the viral video has been manipulated using separate videos and the armed officers seen int he first part of the viral video “were only dealing with a rabid dog.”
Further, BOOM was able to access a screenshot of a WeChat post by a local policeman in Yiwu City written in Mandarin.
On the condition of anonymity, the police officer in the post said,"If someone in your group is spreading this video, please help clarify. At noon, Yiwu special police took instructions from the Municipal Bureau Command center to dispose of a large dog...commonly known as crazy dog at LuoZhai. It’s a normal police action and nothing to do with the epidemic."
PART 3
Below is the screengrab of the footage seen from 0:14 seconds to 0:35 seconds. The Quint has not been able to independently verify the origin of this part of the viral video.
Further, The Quint had debunked an article published by AB-TC (aka City News) claiming that China has sought the approval of the Supreme People's Court to “kill over 20,000 coronavirus patients to avoid further spread of the virus”. We found that it’s a hoax website and several article published by the website have earlier been called out by multiple fact-checkers.
While The Quint has not been able to independently verify a part of the viral video, the other parts of the video certainly do not show China police killing Coronavirus-infected patients.
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