As India saw a surge in COVID-19 cases, distressing and unrelated images were shared on social media to depict shortage of oxygen and the plight of patients in the country.
Members of Ekta debunked two images shared by several social media users and accounts of certain political leaders and parties.
Image 1: An old woman sitting on the street with an oxygen cylinder (Click here for archive)
Image 2: A man and a woman carrying an oxygen cylinder on a motorcycle. (Click here for archive)
Both images were unrelated to the current situation in India. The first one was from Agra, Uttar Pradesh in 2018 and the second one was found to be from Bangladesh.
Here are the fact-check reports from Ekta members.
- BOOM found ANI’s tweet from 2018 which reported the incident in image 1. Read more
- Webqoof, the Quint’s fact-checking initiative, found that the second image was taken near Barishal Engineering College in Bangladesh. Read more
- AFP India pointed out that the image was used in an illustration published by the Pakistan Tribune newspaper in a report on April 23, 2021 about the surge of COVID-19 infections in India. Read more
- Factly debunked these claims which were shared in Telugu language. Read more
These stories have been published as part of the Ekta News Coalition, a collaboration of six fact-checking organisations in India. Have you seen suspicious messages, rumours or misleading information shared on social media and WhatsApp groups? Drop your queries on WhatsApp tiplines of Ekta members. https://ekta-facts.com/
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