AS a Boeing 737-800 aircraft belonging to China Eastern Airlines crashed into the countryside near Wuzhou city, Guangxi region of China on Monday, March 21, 2022, a viral image has been shared on social media to portray the crash.
The post which contains some texts and an image purported to be the wreckage of the crashed plane was published by a Facebook Page named Robert Mugabe Quotes.
“Its sad to see 133 people dying like chicken. A passenger plane has crashed in China & Africa is in tears. If you have a weak heart do not watch this video,” the post read.
The image was also used in the report here by news operator, a South African blog to portray the plane crash in China.
THE CLAIM
That the image shows the plane crash in China of March 2022.
THE FINDINGS
Checks by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING.
Both Google Reverse Image search and Tin Eye Image search of the image revealed that the photo has been online since August 1, 2018.
According to CBS News, the image is from a video captured by passengers of an Aeroméxico plane crash in Mexico in 2018.
“Video shot by a passenger shows the stormy weather an Aeroméxico flight encountered before crashing Tuesday. In the moments after, panicked passengers screamed and looked for the exits. CBS News national correspondent Manuel Bojorquez reports,” the report read.
The news of the Mexican plane crash was also reported here by BBC.
According to the report, the plane crashed just moments after take-off.
“All 103 passengers and crew on board the Aeroméxico flight survived the crash but 97 of them are injured,” the report added.
THE VERDICT
The image of aircraft wreckage used to portray the plane crash in China by the Facebook page is MISLEADING; the image is that of a 2018 plane crash in Mexico.
** This is republished from the Factcheckhub
'Niyi worked with The ICIR as an Investigative Reporter and Fact-checker from 2020 till September 2022. You can shoot him an email via niyioyedeji1@gmail.com. You can as well follow him on Twitter via @niyi_oyedeji.