This video showing heavy traffic jam in a valley is from Pakistan, not Himachal Pradesh - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 28, 2021
A video is being shared on social media claiming it as the visuals of tourists turning back from Himachal Pradesh after the landslide tragedy in Kinnaur. The video shows thousands of vehicles stuck in a heavy traffic jam. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of tourists in Himachal Pradesh struck in a traffic jam while returning.
Fact: This video shows a heavy traffic jam that took place recently in Pakistan. Celebrating the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha, thousands of tourists visited the Kaghan valley in the Mansehra district of Pakistan. Thousands of vehicles were stuck in a heavy traffic jam on the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road that leads to the Kaghan valley. This video has nothing to do with Himachal Pradesh. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On reverse image search of the screenshots in the video, similar visuals were found in a YouTube video published by the Pakistan-based ‘ARY’ news channel. This news channel reported it as the visuals of heavy traffic jams at Kaghan valley in Pakistan. Reporting the same, several Pakistan news websites published similar videos on their YouTube channels. They can be seen here and here.
Celebrating the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha, thousands of tourists flocked to the Kaghan valley in Pakistan. Thousands of vehicles were stuck in a heavy traffic jam on the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road, that leads to the Kaghan valley. Several news websites have published articles on this huge traffic jam that took place near Kaghan valley in Pakistan. They can be seen here and here.
When these traffic jam visuals from Pakistan were shared as the visuals of Himachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh Police through a Facebook post clarified that the video is not related to Himachal Pradesh.
To sum it up, a video of a traffic jam in Pakistan is falsely portrayed as tourists being stuck in traffic in Himachal Pradesh.