AajTak, Odisha TV Peddle Video Of Bridge Collapse In Indonesia As Assam

News outlets AajTak and Odisha TV peddled a video from abroad showing a bridge collapse in flood waters and falsely claimed the visuals were from Assam, which is reeling from heavy rains and floods.

BOOM found that the video is from April 2021 when floods and landslides hit Indonesia and East Timor also known as Timor Leste.

The video has been revived in the context of devastating floods in Assam.

According to news reports, around 4 lakh people in 26 districts of Assam have been affected by floods as heavy incessant rain washed off road and railway links in several parts of the state. The Indian Meteorological Department on May 17 issued a 'red alert' forecasting very heavy to extremely heavy rain in the region for the next three days.

The video can be seen below.

Click here to view the post.

Click here to view the post.

Other news outlets including News Tak, Asianetnews Hindi, India TV, News18 Lokmat, TV9 Hindi and TV9 Bangla also shared the video claiming the same.

Also Read: Video of Storm In Karnataka Passed Off As Cyclone Asani In AP, Odisha

Fact Check

A reverse image search on one of the key-frames of the video led us to an Australian news outlet SBS News's tweet published on April 5, 2021.

The tweet carried a video report including the same visuals which are now being passed off as Assam.

Click here to view the tweet.

The caption with the video report reads as, "Video shows homes and bridges being swept away in Indonesia and East Timor as torrential rain brought landslides and floods to the region, leaving dozens dead."

Taking a cue, we did a keyword search in Bahasa and found several Indonesian news bulletins and articles carrying the visuals of the video.

News outlet Tribunnews.com uploaded the video on April 5, 2021 with a Indonesian caption which roughly translates to, "Video of the Seconds of the Old Bridge of Kambaniru, East Sumba, Collapsed by Flash Flood."

The comparison between the viral footage and the video from Indonesia can be seen below.

A part of the description with the video states, "The Ahmad Yani Bridge or known to locals as the old Kambaniru bridge in East Sumba Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) collapsed in a flash flood, Sunday (4/4/2021) afternoon local time."

Other Indonesian media outlet Suara.com also reported the same about the video at that time.

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