Fact Check: Viral video of boat accident comes from Congo, NOT Goa

A video of an overcrowded motorboat capsizing has been widely shared online as a tragic accident in Goa. An Instagram user wrote“In today’s accident in Goa, 23 bodies were recovered, 40 people were rescued and 64 were missing. The boat owner’s greed for overloading, as well as the travelers’ overestimation of themselves. It’s very sad, tragic.”

India Today’s fact check revealed that the video originated in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Our probe

Backward searching keyframes from the video led us to an Al Jazeera English report This included the viral clip that was uploaded to the official YouTube channel on October 3rd. According to the report, a boat carrying numerous passengers capsized on Lake Kivu in eastern Congo.

Further searches led us to several news reports published on October 4th that included the viral video. According to the Associated PressAt least 78 people died in this incident in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Guardian reported that in the early hours of October 3, a boat believed to be carrying 278 passengers capsized near the shores of Lake Kivu. A BBC Report from the same day said the boat was heading from Minova in South Kivu to the Goma area. It was pointed out that accidents due to overloading were common in the Congo.

We found several News reports about similar boat accidents in the Congo. In June this year 80 people were killed when a boat capsized in Kinshasa, the capital of Congo. In October 2023, 40 people were killed in a similar incident.

We also checked if any such incident happened recently in Goa. According to a local news reportOn September 26, a fishing boat capsized in the Chapora River in Goa. All four people on board were successfully rescued.

It is therefore clear that a boat capsizing in Congo was incorrectly associated with Goa.

(Written by Arjun Deodia and Ashish Kumar)