A video going viral on social media (here, here, and here) shows people running on the streets in Delhi. It is claimed that people are running because of a stampede caused by cloudbursts. Let’s find out the truth behind the video through this article.
Claim: The video shows a stampede-like situation in Delhi caused by a cloudburst.
Fact: The video is from 30 July 2024, when protests erupted across Venezuela, South America. People were demanding President Nicolas Maduro admit his loss in the recent election. The opposition claimed their candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, received more than twice the votes of Maduro, but authorities declared Maduro the winner with 51% of the votes. The video has no connection to Delhi. Therefore, the claim in the post is FALSE.
A reverse image search of keyframes from the viral video led us to multiple videos on social media (here and here) from 30 July 2024 that match the scenes in the viral video. One of these videos was captioned, “Protesters are taking over the streets in Puerto La Cruz after reports that Maduro stole the Venezuelan election.”
Taking a clue from the video description, a Google keyword search led us to news reports (here, here, and here). According to reports, on 30 July 2024, protests erupted across Venezuela as people demanded that President Nicolas Maduro accept his loss in the recent election. The opposition claims their candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, received more than twice the votes of Maduro, but the election authorities announced Maduro as the winner with 51% of the votes. International observers called the election unfair, while the government labelled the protests an attempted rebellion.
To confirm the location, we did a Google lens search using a red building visible in the viral video as a clue. We identified the building as Centro Comercial Regina in Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela, South America.
To sum up, a protest video from Venezuela, South America, has been falsely shared as visuals of people fleeing a cloud burst in Delhi.
