Did a Train From Bihar to Delhi Catch Fire? No, Images Are Old

The images date back to 2018 when a train enroute from New Delhi to Visakhapatnam had caught fire in Gwalior.

A set of images have gone viral on Facebook claiming that they show a train from Bihar’s Chhapra to Anand Vihar terminal in New Delhi colliding and catching fire.

However, we found that the viral images date back to 2018 when a train that was enroute from New Delhi to Visakhapatnam had caught fire in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior at Birla Nagar station.

CLAIM

The claim shared along with the images reads: “अभी अभी छपरा आनन्द विहार टर्मिनल exp टकराई चलती.” (Translated: Just now Chhapra Anand Vihar terminal express train collided.) The text mentioned in the photo also urges people to share these images in all the other groups.

However, the post has now been taken down.

Several social media users shared the images on Facebook and Twitter with a similar claim and the archived posts can be viewed here, here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We found that both the images are old and do not show the current situation. Let’s take a look at them one by one.

IMAGE 1

A reverse image search on Yandex led us to an article published by Amar Ujala on 22 May 2018, that carried the viral image and mentioned that two coaches of New Delhi-Andhra Pradesh Express had caught fire.

The report further stated that the train was enroute from New Delhi to Visakhapatnam.

The Quint had then carried the visuals of the incident in a report that mentioned that the train caught fire at Birla Nagar station near Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. No casualties were reported. The fire had started in B-6 coach and spread to B-5.

Several other media outlets such as The Times of India, The News Minute, among others had also reported about the incident in 2018.

IMAGE 2

We found that a Twitter user had shared the viral image in June 2018.

We came across a Zee news bulletin on YouTube on 21 May 2018, which showed the New Delhi-Andhra Pradesh Express train burning incident.

We compared the two images – one from the claim and the other from the Zee News report – and found the similarities between the two.

We then reached out to a Gwalior-based reporter Shailendra Singh, who had covered the incident in 2018. He said that the viral photos are from the same incident when the said train had caught fire in Gwalior.

Evidently, old images of a train catching fire in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior were used to falsely claim that a train collided in Bihar’s Chhapra recently.

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