India TV Fact Check: Today's fake news case involves a viral video on social media claiming to show the recent stampede in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, during a religious congregation, which claimed the lives of 121 people. India TV's fact-checking team has conducted an investigation into this viral video. Let's find out the truth behind it.
What is the claim?
Several social users shared the video claiming to show the visuals from the recent stampede in Hathras.
A Facebook user named PapRaazi uploaded a video on July 3 claiming that 116 people lost their lives in a religious event in Hathras. The video shows men, women, and children in what appears to be a stampede-like situation, with people falling on each other and others trying to rescue their loved ones. This video is being widely shared on social media platforms, with many users describing it as the first footage of the Hathras stampede.
India TV investigation
When the video started circulating widely on various social media platforms with claims that it was the first footage of the stampede in Hathras, then, India TV's fact-checking team investigated the video and found that it was not related to Hathras. We used the Google lens search on the keyframes of the viral video which led us to the old video of India TV's website. This news was posted on March 17, 2024, with the headline 'Chaos during Laddu Holi at Shreeji Temple in Mathura, many devotees injured, 2 in critical condition'.
The old video found on India TV's website clarified that the viral video was not from Hathras but actually depicted the chaos at Shreeji Temple in Barsana, Mathura. The temple saw a large gathering of devotees before Holi, and on March 17, a stampede-like situation occurred there. Numerous people fainted, and many devotees sustained injuries during the incident.
What did the Fact Check reveal?
India TV's fact-checking team investigated and determined that the video going viral on social media claiming to depict the stampede in Hathras is entirely fake. The video does not show the Hathras stampede but rather the chaotic scene at Shreeji Temple in Barsana during Holi, which occurred four months ago. Therefore, an old video from a temple in Mathura has been falsely circulated to portray the recent stampede in Hathras.
