Fact Check: Misleading video circulating as Goa boat accident actually originated in Congo

New Delhi (Vishvas News). A video is circulating on social media showing a boat capsizing in a river. The accompanying post claims the footage is from Goa, where scores of people are said to have died in the incident.

Vishvas News found in its investigation that this claim was false. Viral video shows a boat capsizing in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

What’s in the viral post?

Facebook user “Bannaram Saran Chaudhary” shared the viral video (archive link) on October 10, 2024 and wrote, “In today’s accident in Goa, 23 bodies were recovered, 40 people rescued and 64 missing.” The boat owner’s greed, that Overloading and overestimation of the passengers’ self-confidence. Very sad, sad.”

Investigation

To begin the research, we used a keyword search. We have not found any report of a recent boat accident in Goa. However, we found one tweet by Goa Police terming this post as fake. This tweet dated October 5, 2024 reads: “A video circulating on social media claims a boat capsized near the coast of Goa. That’s wrong. The incident occurred in Goma, Congo, Africa. Please do not share unconfirmed messages.”

From that clue, we continued our keyword search and found this video, uploaded to the Associated Press YouTube channel on October 4th. The video’s description states: “Footage filmed by a witness shows the moment an overcrowded boat capsized on Lake Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least 78 people.”

We also found the viral video on the China Global Television Network Africa YouTube channel. This is also said to have been an incident in the Congo.

We have contacted North Goa SP Akshat Kaushal for confirmation. He confirmed that there was no such incident of sinking of a boat in Goa.

The user Bannaram Saran Chaudhary, who shared the viral image with the false claim, is followed by more than 7000 users on Facebook.

Vishvas News found in its investigation that this claim was false. Video of a boat accident in Congo is going viral with the misleading claim that it came from Goa.

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