Lighthouse Journalism found a video doing rounds on social media platforms where vehicles were seen being driven on a road where water could be seen splashing from the potholes. It was claimed that the video is from India. During the investigation we found that the video is from Guatemala and not India.
Claim:
X user Harmeet Kaur K shared the video on the handle.
Check the archive version of the post here.
Other users too are sharing the same video with similar claims.
Investigation:
We ran a reverse image search on the keyframes obtained from the video.
During the search we found a report on a website titled, prensalibre.com.
The report mentioned: Rescuers reported an incident at km 14 of the route to the Pacific, where water currents caused by the rains exceeded the levels of a quinel and a vent formed in the asphalt, a phenomenon that, according to authorities, repeats every year.
When we searched the term, ‘Villa Nueva’, we found that the city is in Guatemala.
The report further mentioned: Rescuers posted a video showing part of the asphalt lifting up as water flows out from under the road.
We also found a similar news report on lahora.gt.
The report posted on September 12, 2024 stated: The National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conred) confirmed the existence of a “crack” in the asphalt at kilometer 14 of the CA-9, route to the Pacific, in the jurisdiction of Villa Nueva, after social media users shared videos in which it can be seen that the pressure of the water lifts the asphalt.
We also found the video posted on X.
Conclusion: Video from Guatemala of a damaged road, goes viral claiming it to be from India. Viral claim is misleading.
