Lighthouse Journalism came across a post which was accompanied with a video that showed a burning bus. The claim stated, ‘a magnetic bomb had targeted a bus in the Indian city of Bengaluru in which 3 engineers of DRDO were travelling. All three DRDO engineers are feared dead. The incident happened 4 km west of DRDO HAL Tejas flight testing facility’. During the investigation we found the viral claim to be misleading.
Claim:
X user Pakistan First shared the viral video with a misleading claim.
Check the archive version of the post.
Other users too are sharing the video with similar claims.
Investigation:
We found a post by TOI Bengaluru made a day ago.
The post said: A #BMTC bus (route 144E) caught fire at Anil Kumble Circle on M G Road around 9 am. #Fire was first noticed in the engine. All the passengers disembarked, no casualties.
We found several news reports about the incident.
Details suggested: A public bus went up in flames on a busy road in Bengaluru this morning as the driver started the engine. According to sources within the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), the vigilant driver sprung into action and swiftly vacated the bus, guaranteeing that no one was hurt in the incident. The bus belongs to the Koramangala depot.
Traffic police officials quickly responded to the incident, ensuring safety of the surrounding area and directing traffic away from the site. The fire tender arrived at the spot by 9 a.m., and managed to control and extinguish the fire before it could cause further damage.
Report stated: Bus numbered F 1235, of route number 144E/11, Koramangala Depot lit ablaze around 9 am. No casualties were reported.
Another video was uploaded by Asianet Newsable.
The video was titled: Heroic bus driver saves 60 lives in Bengaluru, BMTC bus catches fire
We also checked for reports about the targeting of DRDO engineers but could not fight any reports about the same.
Conclusion: Video of burning bus in Bengaluru in which no casualties were reported is being shared with misleading claims of DRDO engineers being targeted. Viral claims are misleading.
