Old photo of plane wreck falsely linked to Indian Air Force crash in July
The Indian Air Force (IAF) confirmed a jet crashed in the Churu district of western India's Rajasthan state during a routine training mission on July 9, killing two pilots onboard (archived link).
The post shares a breaking news graphic with a photo of a plane wreck in a field surrounded by people. Hindi-language text repeats the claim.
Image
Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured on July 14, 2025, with a red X added by AFP
The same image circulated across Facebook, Threads and X on the day of the crash.
However, reverse image searches found the photo is of a different crash in 2015.
The photo was published by BBC in a February 27, 2019 report about misinformation circulating during rising tensions between India and Pakistan (archived link).
It is credited to AFP and captioned, "Wreckage of an Indian Air Force jet. Photo: June 2015."
Keyword searches found the same photo in AFP's archives, published on June 3, 2015 (archived link).
The caption reads, in part, "Onlookers look at an Indian Air Force advanced jet trainer aircraft (A 3492) which crashed in a paddy field at Kudurasahi in Mayurbhanj district, some 365 kms north of Bhubaneswar on June 3, 2015".
Image
Screenshot comparison of the image shared in false posts (L) and the photo from AFP archives
Mayurbhanj disrict in the eastern Odisha state is more than 1,340 kilometres (835 miles) from Churu (archived link).
The same photo was used in reports by local outlets The Hindu and The Telegraph about the 2015 crash, which said the accident occurred due to a technical glitch and both pilots were able to eject in time (archived links here and here).
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AFP
4 days ago
- AFP
Old photo of plane wreck falsely linked to Indian Air Force crash in July
"Air Force's Jaguar fighter jet crashes in Churu, two pilots martyred," reads a Hindi-language Facebook post shared on July 9, 2025. The Indian Air Force (IAF) confirmed a jet crashed in the Churu district of western India's Rajasthan state during a routine training mission on July 9, killing two pilots onboard (archived link). The post shares a breaking news graphic with a photo of a plane wreck in a field surrounded by people. Hindi-language text repeats the claim. Image Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured on July 14, 2025, with a red X added by AFP The same image circulated across Facebook, Threads and X on the day of the crash. However, reverse image searches found the photo is of a different crash in 2015. The photo was published by BBC in a February 27, 2019 report about misinformation circulating during rising tensions between India and Pakistan (archived link). It is credited to AFP and captioned, "Wreckage of an Indian Air Force jet. Photo: June 2015." Keyword searches found the same photo in AFP's archives, published on June 3, 2015 (archived link). The caption reads, in part, "Onlookers look at an Indian Air Force advanced jet trainer aircraft (A 3492) which crashed in a paddy field at Kudurasahi in Mayurbhanj district, some 365 kms north of Bhubaneswar on June 3, 2015". Image Screenshot comparison of the image shared in false posts (L) and the photo from AFP archives Mayurbhanj disrict in the eastern Odisha state is more than 1,340 kilometres (835 miles) from Churu (archived link). The same photo was used in reports by local outlets The Hindu and The Telegraph about the 2015 crash, which said the accident occurred due to a technical glitch and both pilots were able to eject in time (archived links here and here).
France 24
13-07-2025
- France 24
Faced with US heat waves, the Navajo push for power -- and A/C
It will be a luxury in the vast Native American reservation, the largest in the United States, where more than 10,000 families are still without electricity and therefore air conditioning. "It's climate change. It's getting hotter," Shorty tells AFP. "This would be easier for us with the fan and maybe air conditioning. And we look forward to that." In her 70 years, Shorty has seen her isolated, tiny hamlet of Tonalea, a dot in the enormous area of the reservation, change dramatically. Summer monsoon rains are rarer, and temperatures can touch 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) in July and August -- previously unthinkable in the hamlet, located on a plateau at an altitude of 5,700 feet (1,730 meters). The area's seasonal lakes are drying up, and in some years the livestock are dying of thirst. Like many others, Shorty has a generator and small solar panels that allow her to power a gas fridge, cook and watch television. But their power is limited, and she often has to choose which appliance to plug in. Being hooked up to the electrical grid is "a big change. It's going to make my life a lot easier," she tells AFP. 'Survival mode' Most of the United States was electrified in the 1930s under president Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal initiatives. But in the Navajo Nation, which stretches across Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, the first efforts only began in the 1960s, and there are still not enough power lines. "This area was looked over," says Deenise Becenti of the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA), the agency that manages the reservation's infrastructure. "That surprises many people. They're saying, you know, why are there third world conditions that exist here in the United States, the greatest country in the world?" To catch up, the semi-autonomous government of the reservation launched the "Light Up Navajo" project in 2019. The humanitarian initiative sees electricity companies from all over the country send their employees to work in the reservation for around a dozen weeks a year. Since 2019, electricity has been supplied to 5,000 families in the reservation, including 1,000 thanks to "Light Up Navajo," Becenti said. But as climate change drives temperatures higher, families still without power in the reservation -- where many live below the poverty rate and unemployment is high -- are in "survival mode," she said. 'Angry' Elbert Yazzie's mobile home turns into a furnace in the summer, and he has already lost one member of his extended family to heat stroke. "I used to like the heat," the 54-year-old, who lives in nearby Tuba City, tells AFP. "But when you get older I guess your body can't take it no more." His home was finally connected to electricity just weeks ago. Since then, he has rigged up an evaporative air cooler, also known as a "swamp cooler," by salvaging three broken appliances from a garbage dump. "Now we can turn on the A/C anytime we want, so we don't have to worry about the heat, and the generator and the gas, and all that stuff," he says. "Now we don't have to go to (other) people's houses to cool down, we can just stay home, relax, watch TV, things like that." He and Shorty are the fortunate ones. Without more funding, connecting the remaining 10,000 Navajo families without electricity could take another two decades, Becenti says. That is far too long for Gilberta Cortes, who no longer dares let her children play outside in the summer, for fear of getting heat-exacerbated nosebleeds. An electricity pole has just been erected in front of the 42-year-old's house and a line is due to be extended to her in a few months' time. But she has endured too much false hope to be serene. "My mom and dad were in their 20s, they were promised power," but it never materialized, she says. "I'm still angry." © 2025 AFP
AFP
11-07-2025
- AFP
False Philippine landslide posts misuse old clip from Taiwan
"VIDEO WATCH: LANDSLIDE IN PAGADIAN CITY," reads the caption to a Facebook reel shared on July 5. Pagadian city is located in the southern island of Mindanao (archived link). Viewed over 1.8 million times, the clip shows a mudslide rolling down the side of a mountain onto a road. Backhoes can be seen operating near the site. The sound of people shouting in the Visayan language can be heard. Image Screenshot of false post taken on July 9, 2025, with a red X mark added by AFP The clip spread on Facebook and elsewhere on TikTok with people seemingly worried about the disaster. "Where is this in Pagadian, why is it not in the news?" one asked. "That's what happens when there's a quarrying site," another said. Although geological hazard map data of the city issued by the country's environment agency shows numerous areas are "highly susceptible" to landslides, the video in fact shows an incident in Taiwan (archived link). Pagadian city Mayor Samuel Co issued a statement on his Facebook page on July 5, where he identified posts carrying the footage of the landslide as "entirely false" (archived link). "We respectfully request the Pagadianon to maintain composure and exercise discretion by refraining from disseminating such unsubstantiated claims, as they may cause unnecessary public concern," he added, addressing the city's residents. A reverse video search on Google found the clip has been circulating online since October 2022 on social media sites Weibo, Douyin and YouTube (archived here, here, here). The sound of someone shouting "the whole slice of mountain is falling down" in Chinese -- not Visayan -- can be heard in the video clip. The Chinese-language caption of the Douyin post shared on October 17, 2022 reads "Landslide in the mountainous areas of Yilan in Taiwan". Image Screenshot comparison of the circulating footage on Facebook in the Philippines (left) and the clip shared on Douyin in 2022 (right) Further keyword searches found news reports from Taiwan's Public Television Service and local broadcaster Formosa TV about landslides in Yilan County's Datong Township on October 16, 2022 (archived here, here, here, and here). According to the reports, hundreds of residents were evacuated from the area after Typhoon Nesat caused massive landslides, particularly along Highway 7. A check on Google and Bing maps shows a cavity on the side of a mountain along the old and new roads of Highway 7. It also shows rice paddies similar to the one seen on the circulating clip's foreground. Image Screenshot comparison of the clip shared on Douyin in 2022 (left) and an image on Google Maps taken in 2023 (right)
