Video From Chamoli Viral as Indian Army Destroying Chinese Bunkers

We found that the viral video showed rescue operations being carried out by the ITBP at Chamoli.

Fact-Check | We found that the viral video showed rescue operations being carried out by the ITBP personnel at Chamoli District in Uttarakhand.

(Photo: The Quint)

A video of people working with JCB excavators is viral on the internet with a claim that it shows the Indian Army demolishing Chinese bunkers along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) after around “5,000 Chinese soldiers escaped with 150 tanks”.

However, we found that the viral video showed rescue operations being carried out by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel at the Chamoli District of Uttarakhand after the flash floods in the state that has caused the deaths of over 60 people.

CLAIM

The caption viral with the claim read in Hindi, “पांगोंग झील से १५० चीनी टैंक और लगभग ५,000 चीनी सैनिकों के भागने के पश्चात. भारतीय सेना ने जेसीबी से सभी चीनी बंकर ध्वस्त कर दिए!”

[Translation: After 150 Chinese tanks and about 5,000 Chinese soldiers escape from Pangong Lake, Indian Army demolished all Chinese bunkers with a JCB.]

The claim was shared widely on Facebook and Twitter.

An archive of the post can be found here.(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

An archive of the post can be found here.(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

An archive of the post can be found here.(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

An archive of the post can be found here.(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We extracted keyframes from the video using the InVID WeVerify Google Chrome extension and ran a reverse image search on some of the keyframes. The search results lead us to some news reports talking about rescue operations taking place in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district following the flash floods that took place on 7 February.

We also found the same report published by the news agency, ANI, that carried the viral video.

The description of the video said, “Chamoli disaster: 56 bodies recovered, rescue operation underway.”

An archive of the post can be found here.(Source: YouTube/Screenshot)

The same video was also shared by ITBP’s official Twitter handle.

An archive of the post can be found here.(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

Chinese and Indian armies started the disengagement process along the LAC in the second week of February after months of a military standoff.

Evidently, a video showing ITBP’s rescue operation in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli was shared with a false claim that it showed the Indian army demolishing Chinese bunkers along the LAC after the disengagement of Chinese troops.

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