Fact-Check: Silkyara Tunnel Expert Arnold Dix Is Not ‘Anand Dixit From Kanpur'

Dix told The Quint that he was born and educated in Melbourne, Australia.

Sharing photographs of Arnold Dix, the tunnelling expert who worked with Indian engineers to rescue the 41 workers who were trapped in Uttarakhand’s Silkyara tunnel, social media users are claiming that Dix is actually Indian.

What are users saying?: Those sharing the claim identify Arnold Dix as ‘Anand Dixit’, an engineer from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh who got his Civil Engineering degree from Roorkee Engineering College.

• The claim adds that after completing his education, ‘Dixit’ migrated to the United States of America and changed his name to ‘Arnold Dix’ and settled there.

(Archives of more posts sharing this claim can be seen here and here.)

Is it true?: There is no evidence to back this story.

• Dix told The Quint that he was born in Melbourne, Australia and has studied at Monash University, Australia.

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How did we find out?: Several Indian news organisations covered Dix’s story when he arrived in Uttarakhand to help rescue the 41 workers who were trapped in the Silkyara tunnel.

• All of them state that Dix is an Australian national.

We also came across posts from Australia’s High Commissioner to India Philip Green and the country’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, celebrating the rescue and congratulating ‘Australia’s Professor Arnold Dix.’

A wonderful achievement by Indian authorities. Proud that Australian Professor Arnold Dix played a role on the ground. 🇦🇺🇮🇳 https://t.co/RI1oSnaUkK

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) November 28, 2023

In a video published by news agency ANI’s verified X account, Dix identifies himself as an Australian. 

• When told about Albanese congratulating him about the successful rescue operation, Dix says, “As an Australian…”

#WATCH | Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) tunnel rescue | On Australian PM Anthony Albanese's congratulatory message on the successful rescue of all 41 workers from the Silkyara tunnel, international tunnelling expert, Arnold Dix says, "Thanks, Mr Prime Minister... It's been my privilege… pic.twitter.com/wRnGqE6gNq

— ANI (@ANI) November 29, 2023

We then looked for Dix’s social media pages. This led us to his LinkedIn account, which shows that he is the President of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association in Geneva, Switzerland.

The ‘Experience’ section of this page shows Dix’s long career, which shows that he has worked at several locations and roles  in Australia, along with Tokyo, Geneva, and London.

Under the ‘Education’ section of his LinkedIn page, one can see that Dix was educated in Melbourne, Australia and the UK, and not Roorkee Engineering College.

We contacted Dix over email, where he confirmed to The Quint that he was born and educated in Australia.

• Commenting on the viral claim, Dix said he "laughed so much when I read that first post about me being Indian.".

Conclusion: Arnold Dix is an Australian national who studied in Australia, not India.

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Old Image Falsely Shared as a Worker Trapped in Uttarakhand Tunnel

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