2012 video from Bolivia viral as bus accident in Kullu.

The viral video does not show the recent bus accident in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh. The video shows a bus accident in Bolivia in 2012. 

A video showing a bus falling off a cliff into a ditch is widely circulating on social media. Users claim that this video shows a road accident in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh where a bus fell into a gorge in Sainj area. The users further claim that the accident took 20 lives including schoolchildren.

The caption of the post mentions, “A horrific road accident in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu, bus fell into a gorge in Sainj area – 20 people including school children died”

(Hindi: हिमाचल प्रदेश के कुल्लू में भीषण सड़क हादसा, सैंज इलाके में खाई में गिरी बस- स्कूली बच्चों समेत 20 लोगों की मौत।)

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Fact Check- 

A google reverse image search on one of the key frames of the video led us a news report published by Daily Mail UK on 5 January 2012. According to the report, this video is from Bolivia and not India. 

The video shows the driver creeping past the cliff’s edge on a treacherous stretch of the Bolivian pass while a crowd tries to help guide his way. Heavy rain had made the Camino de la Muerte — or Road of Death — muddy and slippery making it especially dangerous to drive on.

The 38-mile pass from La Paz to Coroico, Bolivia’s Amazon region, claims an estimated 200 to 300 lives a year, The Sun reported.

According Mirror UK, the driver had been alone in the bus, as he had unloaded his 50 passengers before attempting to navigate through the dangerous track.

A report published by L’Obs on January 2012, the accident happened at a Bolivian mountain road, which was in a very poor condition. The road is locally called “el Camino de la muerte” which means the road of death). The driver lost his life after a 50m fall.

Was there a bus accident in Kullu recently?

According to Hindustan Times, twelve people were killed when a bus they were travelling on skidded off the road and plunged into a 200-metre gorge near Jangla village, about 65 kilometres from the district headquarters of Kullu in Himachal Pradesh, on 5 July 2022.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur visited the spot and ordered a magisterial probe into the accident. He also said that the families of the victims will be given an ex-gratia relief of ₹5 lakh each and the injured will get all possible help for their treatment. The accident took 16 lives and 3 people were severely injured.

Conclusion- 

Fact Crescendo found the viral claim to be Partly False. The viral video does not show the recent bus accident in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh. The video shows a bus accident in Bolivia in 2012. It is true that there are reports of a bus accident in Kullu but the viral video has no relation with it.