The recent cloudburst in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district on 05 August 2025 triggered severe flash floods, particularly in Dharali village. The intense and sudden rainfall caused rivers like the Kheer Ganga to overflow, resulting in large-scale destruction of homes and infrastructure. According to reports, five deaths have been confirmed so far, around 1,308 people have been rescued, and 43 remain missing. The final death toll has not yet been determined. In this context, a photo has gone viral on social media claiming to show a collapsed school in Uttarakhand with students lying on the ground due to the damage. Let’s find out the truth behind this photo.
Claim: The viral photo shows the condition of a school after flash floods in Uttarakhand in August 2025.
Fact: The image is AI-generated. Verification using Hive and Sightengine confirmed it was created by AI. On 08 August 2025, the Uttarakhand Police clarified that the photo is fake and falsely linked to the Harshil–Dharali disaster. Hence, the claim is FALSE.
To verify the claim, we conducted a Google reverse image search, which led to similar posts featuring the same photo, with “Meta AI” written in the bottom right corner, indicating it may have been AI-generated.
To verify whether the photo was AI-generated, we ran it through Hive and Sightengine. Hive detected it as 99.9% AI-generated, while Sightengine showed 99%, clearly confirming that the image was created using AI.
Additionally, on 08 August 2025, the Uttarakhand Police clarified that the photo was AI-generated and was being falsely linked to the Harshil–Dharali disaster to spread misinformation. They stated, “This is completely misleading. Do not share any news going viral on social media without verifying it,” confirming that the photo is not original.
To sum up, an AI-generated image of a damaged school is being falsely shared as if it shows the aftermath of the Uttarakhand disaster.
