A 2024 video of a truck narrowly escaping a landslide in Indonesia is falsely shared as that of Chamba, Himachal Pradesh

Monsoon has intensified in Himachal Pradesh, causing landslides and the closure of over 280 roads, including two national highways. Power and water supply have also been hit, with 314 transformers and 221 drinking water schemes non-functional. A yellow alert for heavy rain has been issued in seven districts, and a recent landslide has also been reported in Chamba.

Amidst this, a video showing a truck narrowly escaping a landslide is being shared on social media (here, here, and here), with claims that it is from Chamba, Himachal Pradesh. Let’s verify the claim made in the post in this article.

The archived post can be found here.

Claim: The video shows a truck narrowly escaping a landslide in Chamba, Himachal Pradesh.

Fact: The video does not show a truck escaping a landslide in Chamba, Himachal Pradesh. It shows an incident from West Sumatra, Indonesia, that occurred on 17 May 2024. Multiple media reports confirm the location and date of the incident. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.

A reverse image search of keyframes from the viral video led to multiple media reports dated 18 May 2024, featuring the same visuals (here, here, and here). According to these reports, the incident took place on 17 May 2024 in West Sumatra province, Indonesia. In the longer version of the video, a man in a blue raincoat is seen stepping onto the road, likely after sensing the landslide to warn approaching vehicles. The truck seen in the video narrowly escaped as the landslide struck. Follow-up visuals also show debris being cleared from the site using a bulldozer.

Flash floods struck West Sumatra on the evening of 11 May 2024, following heavy rainfall in the upstream region of Mount Marapi. The floods severely affected four districts: Agam, Tanah Datar, Padang Panjang, and Padang Pariaman. Reports stated that at least 67 people lost their lives, and many others were reported missing.

To sum up, a 2024 video of a truck narrowly escaping a landslide in Indonesia is falsely shared as that of Chamba, Himachal Pradesh.