Fact Check: Video of baby dangling from window is NOT from Lucknow fire
India Today Fact Check found that this video is not from Lucknow, or even from India. It is an old video from New York.
India Today Fact Check
A video of a toddler hanging onto the hand of a woman trapped in a burning building has been widely shared in connection with the coaching centre fire in Lucknow’s Aliganj.
Many Facebook users shared the video with hashtags like “Lucknow News”, “Aliganj library”, and “Fire Accident". The archive of one such post can be viewed here.
The fire at an animation coaching centre operating above a shop in the Puraniya area of Aliganj has reportedly killed 15, with most aged 16–25 years. Most of the deaths were caused by suffocation.
India Today Fact Check found that this video is not from Lucknow, or even from India. It is an old video from New York.
OUR PROBE
Videos and pictures of the building in Lucknow where the fire broke out have been published on various Indian news outlets. The building in the viral video looks completely different.
Reverse-searching the video’s frames led us to its screenshot in a HuffPost report dated April 18, 2010. According to it, the child the woman was trying to save was seven-month-old Zaniwah Alexandra. The video was reportedly shot in the Bronx by a woman named Maya Tucker. The Bronx is a borough in New York City.
According to a report by The New York Daily News, a fire had broken out in the Pelham Parkway Houses, and the video showed the fifth floor. As the house filled with smoke, 18-year-old Venessa Scott hung her 7-month-old cousin outside the window so she could breathe. Later, firefighters rescued Venessa and the rest of her family using a ladder.
According to a New York Post report, ten people, including two firefighters, were injured in this incident, but no one died.
Thus, it is clear that an old American video is being falsely shared in the context of the Lucknow fire.
A video of a toddler hanging onto the hand of a woman trapped in a burning building has been widely shared in connection with the coaching centre fire in Lucknow’s Aliganj.
Many Facebook users shared the video with hashtags like “Lucknow News”, “Aliganj library”, and “Fire Accident". The archive of one such post can be viewed here.
The fire at an animation coaching centre operating above a shop in the Puraniya area of Aliganj has reportedly killed 15, with most aged 16–25 years. Most of the deaths were caused by suffocation.
India Today Fact Check found that this video is not from Lucknow, or even from India. It is an old video from New York.
OUR PROBE
Videos and pictures of the building in Lucknow where the fire broke out have been published on various Indian news outlets. The building in the viral video looks completely different.
Reverse-searching the video’s frames led us to its screenshot in a HuffPost report dated April 18, 2010. According to it, the child the woman was trying to save was seven-month-old Zaniwah Alexandra. The video was reportedly shot in the Bronx by a woman named Maya Tucker. The Bronx is a borough in New York City.
According to a report by The New York Daily News, a fire had broken out in the Pelham Parkway Houses, and the video showed the fifth floor. As the house filled with smoke, 18-year-old Venessa Scott hung her 7-month-old cousin outside the window so she could breathe. Later, firefighters rescued Venessa and the rest of her family using a ladder.
According to a New York Post report, ten people, including two firefighters, were injured in this incident, but no one died.
Thus, it is clear that an old American video is being falsely shared in the context of the Lucknow fire.