An image of the mangled remains of a roadways bus is viral on social media with a caption falsely claiming that nine personnel of Border Security Force have lost their life in the bus accident.
BOOM found that a bus carrying BSF personnel did overturn near Muzzaffarpur-Darbhanga border in Bihar on November 4, 2020 but none of the personnel had died in the accident. The same was confirmed to us by the Medical Officer of the public health center at Singhwara where the injured personnel were admitted for treatment.
The bus was en route to Singhwara in Bihar where the BSF personnel were stationed on election duty. It is noteworthy that the third phase of Bihar elections concluded on November 7.
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Images from the accident site are being shared with Hindi captions which suggest that at least nine BSF personnel were killed in the accident. One can see uniformed BSF personnel standing around an overturned bus while other bystanders are looking on from a distance.
A Hindi caption with the post translates to 'Sad news...9 BSF soldiers killed. May their souls rest in peace'.
(Hindi: दुःखद खबर #BSF के 9 जवान शहीद 😭😭 भगवान उनकी आत्मा की शांति दे)
View the Facebook posts here and here.
Fact Check
On a closer inspection of the picture, we found that the number plate on the vehicle bears a Bihar registration.
A keyword search using "Bihar, bus overturn, BSF" led us to articles reported by Dainik Bhaskar, UNI, and Punjab Kesari on November 5.
Dainik Bhaskar article reporting the bus accident in Bihar
Through a reverse image search of the picture, we found the same image in the photo library of Sanmarg a news publication from Patna, published on November 5.
According to the reports, the bus carrying BSF personnel was headed to Singhwara in Bihar. At Lalpur chowk in Budhkara village which comes under Kathra police station's jurisdiction in Muzaffarpur district, the bus driver lost his way to the high school where the personnel were to be stationed.
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While taking a turn, the bus driver lost control over the vehicle which overturned and fell into a roadside ditch. Nine personnel and the driver were injured and were admitted to Singhwara public health center for treatment.
BOOM then contacted Dr. Prem Singh Prasad, Medical Officer at the PHC who confirmed that all the personnel were alive and safe.
"All the people who were admitted for treatment only suffered minor injuries and are stable," Dr. Prasad told BOOM.
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