Old Image Falsely Shared as a Worker Trapped in Uttarakhand Tunnel

This image has been on the internet since 2019 and is unrelated to 41 workers trapped in Uttarakhand's tunnel.

An image showing a man wearing a miner’s helmet and crouching is going viral on social media.

The claim states that it shows one of the 41 workers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi.

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

What's the truth?: This image predates the incident of 41 workers getting trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi.

How did we find out the truth?: We performed a reverse image search on the viral image.

• This led us to a Facebook post from 2 May 2019.

• The caption stated that the image tells a story of "40 years of impeachment war" but it did not mention any location.

• We also found another Facebook post from 28 September 2020 carrying the same image.

• The caption mentioned that it shows a "hardworking father".

More about workers trapped in Uttarkashi tunnel: A portion of the Silkyara tunnel collapsed in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi on 12 November, prompting immediate rescue operations.

• All 41 workers trapped inside the tunnel for more than 400 hours were finally rescued on 28 November.

Conclusion: Although we could not independently verify the context and location of the viral image, it is clear that this image is not related to the recent incident of workers trapped inside Uttarakhand's tunnel.

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