By: Rohith Gutta
June 6 2023
No, this video of overcrowded train was not taken minutes before it derailed in Balasore
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Fact-Check
The Verdict False
This clip is from early May and does not show the Coromandel Express train that derailed and collided with a goods train in Balasore on June 2, 2023.
Context
In one of the worst train accidents in India, nearly 290 people were left dead and over 900 injured after two passenger trains and a goods train collided in the Balasore district of Odisha on June 2, 2023. The investigation into the causes of the accident is still underway. A Twitter user named ‘Mamta Tripathi’ shared an eight-second clip of an overcrowded train coach with people standing and sitting on the floor of the compartment, with the claim that the clip was shared by a passenger with his friend sometime before the accident. This tweet has more than 135,000 views and 700 retweets so far.
In Fact
While two passenger trains were involved in the accident, along with a freight train, the user did not mention the passenger train in which this video was purportedly shot. The two passenger trains involved were Coromandel Express and SVT Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express.
A search on Twitter about overcrowding in Coromandel Express yielded the original video. The video was posted by a user named ‘Sidhant Kumar Panda’ on May 5, 2023. He posted the clip with the text, “This is the situation in 12841 Coromandel Express (Sleeper Coach). Please take necessary action. Everyone of us who has CNF seats are suffering a lot. My PNR 6318071331 (sic).” In the tweet, he tagged the IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation), Union Minister for Railways, and the Railway Protection Force. RailSeva, a Twitter account offering support to passengers, had responded to his tweet at the time.
This shows that the viral video has been online since early May 2023 and resurfaced after people pointed out that the Coromandel Express, which runs between Kolkata and Chennai, is often overcrowded. However, this particular video was not captured minutes before the accident in Balasore.
The Verdict
A video clip from May 2023 showing an overcrowded Coromandel Express train was falsely shared as a video captured minutes before the June 2, 2023 accident in Balasore.