Video from Guatemala falsely shared as 'rain-damaged road' in India

What’s the claim?

A video showing water gushing from a cracked road has circulated on social media, with claims that it depicts a road in India and criticizes Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government over infrastructure issues.

Congress leader Surendra Singh Rajput shared the video with a caption in Hindi that translates to: "Congratulations on your birthday for the road-breaking development, sir." The claim was made on September 17, Modi's birthday. Archived versions of the posts are available here, here, and here.

Screenshot of claims made online. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the video is actually from Guatemala, not India.

What we found

A reverse image search of the viral video led to a report from Prensa Libre, a Guatemalan news outlet, dated September 12, 2024. The report included a keyframe from the viral video and described a crack in the CA-9 national route near Villa Nueva village in Guatemala. It noted that heavy rains had overwhelmed a culvert beneath the road, causing the damage.

Another Guatemalan news source, La Hora Gt, reported that the incident occurred after heavy rainfall on the evening of September 12, 2024.

Geolocation analysis of the video using Google Maps confirms that it was filmed on the CA-9 route in Villa Nueva village, Guatemala, verifying that it is not from India.

The verdict

A video of water spurting from a damaged road in Guatemala has been falsely presented as footage from India to criticize Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government over infrastructure issues.