2018 Video Of Collapsed Varanasi Flyover Peddled As Hyderabad

A disturbing video of smashed vehicles lying under a collapsed flyover in Varanasi has surfaced on social media with a false claim that the incident took place in Balanagar, Hyderabad recently.

BOOM found that the video is from 2018 in Varanasi where 19 people were killed after an under-construction flyover collapsed.

The viral clip shows several people trying to rescue passengers from under the collapsed flyover. The video also shows disturbing visuals of bodies trapped inside the smashed vehicles under the flyover

The caption viral with the video reads, "Avoid Balanagar Jeedimetla route. Under construction flyover collapse. Gold telengana". The misleading caption created panic among netizens; Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) took to Twitter to debunk the same.

Archive of a post can be seen here. (The content is graphic, viewers' discretion advised )

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Netizens also tagged the Hyderabad city police on Twitter based on the misleading caption that claimed that the video is from Hyderabad.

Fact Check

BOOM searched with a few relevant keywords "under construction flyover collapsing" and found some news reports on the incident which indicated that the clip is a two year old incident from Varanasi. A report by Telangana Today states that the viral video of the bridge collapsing in Hyderabad is originally from Varanasi.

According to the report, "the video went viral since the Balanagar flyover was being constructed and people immediately linked the under construction flyovers, and began sharing it widely."

We also found the same video from 2018 published on the YouTube channel of VOA News.

According to reports, "Nineteen persons were killed and several others were injured when two beams of an under-construction flyover collapsed near Varanasi railway station on May 15, 2018. As many as eight people, including seven engineers of UP Bridge Corporation and a contractor were arrested by the crime branch following the tragedy."

We further found a tweet by Cyberabad Police dismissing the claim and clarifying that it does not belong to Balanagar in Hyderabad but from Varanasi from 2018.

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