Unrelated Photos Shared As Prophet Mohammad Cartoonist Killed In Car Crash

Two old images of car accidents are doing rounds on social media with a false claim that they show how Swedish artist Lars Vilks died in a car crash on October 3, 2021.

BOOM found that the images are unrelated and belong to separate incidents from different timelines.

Visual artist Lars Vilks, who stirred a worldwide controversy in 2007 after sketching Prophet Muhammad's head on a dog's body, died in an accident near the southern town of Markaryd in Sweden. The 75-year-old artist had been living under police protection since the drawings were published. Vilks was travelling in a police vehicle which collided with a truck, reported Reuters. Two police officers also lost their lives in the accident.

In this backdrop, graphic photographs of a burning car on the road and a vehicle smashed in a crash are being shared on Facebook respectively. The caption with one of the photographs reads, "The Swedish painter Lars Vilks, dies in a terrible accident that burned inside his cars for several hours, accompanied by two of his bodyguards."

The same photo is viral on Twitter with a similar caption.

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Another photo of a damaged car and a logging truck including an image of Lars Vilks is circulating on social media with a Bengali caption which translates to, "Firawn-Nimrods keep hundreds of security for being alive. But if there is no security of Allah, then we have to die brutally. The entire Muslim community is happy after the tragic death of the artist who made a caricature of the Holy Prophet in France. This is like a victory. Muhammad is in the heart."

(Original Text in Bengali: ফেরাউন-নমরুদরাই বেচে থাকার জন্য শতশত সিকিউরিটি রাখে। কিন্তু আল্লাহর সিকিউরিটি না থাকলে এভাবেই নৃশংসভাবে মরতে হয়। ফ্রান্সে মহানবী সা.এর ব্যঙ্গচিত্র আকা ভ্রস্ট শিল্পীর মর্মান্তিক মৃত্যুতে পুরো মুসলিম মিল্লাতের মনে ঈদের খুশি বইছে। এ যেনো এক বিজয় হৃদয়ে মুহাম্মাদ সা)

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Also Read: Facebook Aware Of Anti-Muslim Content In India: Whistleblower Frances Haugen

Fact Check

BOOM did a reverse image search on the photograph showing a yellow luxe car burning and found the photo on a Motor1.com article published on April 13, 2015. According to the report, the image shows a car accident which happened in Hyderabad at that time. Taking a cue from this, we did a keyword search and found a Hindustan Times report about the incident.

The Hindustan Times report states, "A businessman driving at a high speed escaped death after his Porsche car rammed into a divider and caught fire on Outer Ring Road in Himayatsagar. The man, identified as Ravi Kumar of Shaikpet, was driving the sports car at a very high speed (150-200kmph) when the accident occurred on Sunday morning."

We also found a video related to the incident on Russian state media Ruptly's YouTube Channel published on the same date.

After running a reverse image search on the viral photograph, we found the same photo on a The San Diego Union-Tribune article published on February 19, 2015.

The caption with image reads, "In this Tuesday Feb. 17, 2015 photo, a car and a logging truck sit damaged after they collided head-on near Tokoroa, New Zealand. New Zealand authorities said Thursday, Feb. 19 that U.S. citizens Warren Lee, his wife Aesoon Lee and the couple's daughter, Julia Lee were killed and their son critically injured when their car crashed into the logging truck. (AP Photo/NZ Herald, John van de Ven) AUSTRALIA OUT, NEW ZEALAND OUT(The Associated Press)".

The photo can also be found on The Associated Press' website carrying the same details.

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