Posts about people pushing train along track in India are missing context
Posts are missing context that it came amid an unusual emergency situation
CLAIM
Videos posted across social media purport to show crowds of people in Bihar, India, pushing a train to get it started.
BACKGROUND
Footage posted across multiple social media accounts and across platforms purported to show people pushing a train along its tracks to get it running, in Kiul Junction railway station.
One of the posts on X, by @Mafiya_Singh11, was viewed more than 800,000 times since being posted on June 8.
In the video, dozens of people can be seen pushing the train from the outside. Some text overlaid on the video featured the same caption as was posted on X: “Bihar is Not For Beginners :::- At Kiul Jn station, passengers pushed the train and made it run on the tracks.”
The wording of the caption made it seem like having to push the train was a regular occurrence in Bihar.
METHOD
A reverse image search led us to find similar videos posted by news accounts about the incident, which was reported to have involved a fire, including this video.
Further research about this news story brought us to a number of news stories about what actually happened.
According to local reports, several carriages on the train caught fire as it approached the station on June 6. Passengers, railway officials and other passersby managed to separate the burning carriages and push the train and its occupants to safety at the station.
Another article referred to the incident as an “extraordinary display of community spirit” after the fire, which originated in the train’s ladies’ coach.
RATING
The footage does show people pushing a train at Kiul Junction in Bihar, but posts are missing context that it came amid an unusual emergency situation involving a fire on the train.
SOURCES
X (formerly Twitter). (2024). Available at: Bihar is Not For Beginners… [Accessed 11 Jun. 2024].
Instagram. (2014). Wirally on Instagram: ‘There were no injuries reported, and the fire was successfully put out…’. [online] [Accessed 11 Jun. 2024].
The Indian Express (2024). Watch: Passengers, locals unite to push halted Patna-Jharkhand train to safety after fire mishap. [online] [Accessed 11 Jun. 2024].
Kanishka Singharia (2024). Train on Railway Track Pushed by Passengers to Safety: ‘Bihar Not for Beginners’. [online] Times Now. [Accessed 11 Jun. 2024].