A dramatic video showing landslide debris fall on five people standing below a waterfall in East Java, Indonesia is going viral on social media and has been misreported by Indian news outlets claiming that the incident is recent from Chamoli, Uttrakhand.
Uttrakhand has been reeling from heavy flash floods affecting several hundred people with a landslide being reported to have hit Jakhna village and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team conducitng its rescue operation in the area.
In the eight seconds video, a group of people are seen standing below the waterfall and after a few seconds, a landslide is triggered with debris falling on them.
The video was tweeted by Dainik Bhaskar journalist Sachin Gupta with the caption when translated reads, "Avoid taking bath under the mountain waterfall in rainy season. This video has been released by Chamoli district police of Uttarakhand."
(In Hindi - बरसात में पहाड़ के झरने के नीचे नहाने से बचें... ये Video उत्तराखंड की चमोली जनपद पुलिस ने जारी किया है।)
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The same video was also tweeted by other Twitter handles including journalist Priya Singh attributing the video to Chamoli Police.
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Several media outlets including Navbharat Times, ABP News, and Jansatta published articles on the viral video stating that it had been tweeted by Chamoli Police. However, none of the articles mention that the incident is old and not from India.
The same video is also being shared on Facebook with the misleading claim.
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral video is from a landslide at a waterfall in Sedudo in East Java, Indonesia engulfing five people standing below it on February 14, 2023.
The viral video was previously tweeted by the official handle of Chamoli Police, However, the tweet does not mention that the video is from Uttrakhand. The caption when translated reads, "Avoid bathing under waterfalls in the mountains during the rainy season."
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Taking a hint from the replies by X (formerly Twitter) users pointing out that the video is not from India, we found news reports on the incident which showed that the video is from February 2023 from Indonesia.
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Indonesian news media outlet Detik News reported on February 14, 2023, that local authorities had confirmed that a landslide occurred at the Sedudo Waterfall in East Java on February 14, 2023, at around 3.10 pm. The report stated that a bystander had captured the incident which later went viral on social media.
The same waterfall can be seen in the featured image of the article that can be seen in the viral video.
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The report went on to quote Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Nganjuk Police confirming the incident to the news outlet and stating that one person had died and the other four people seen in the video had survived. It mentions that the victim and his six colleagues had traveled to the Sedudo Waterfall.
