Old video of man carrying child on shoulder outside Tirupati temple falsely linked to stampede

     New Delhi, Jan 11 (PTI): A video was shared on social media showing a man carrying a child on his shoulders with users claiming that it was due to non-availability of an ambulance at the Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple in Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh during the recent stampede incident.
     The PTI Fact Check Desk investigated the claim and found it to be false. The viral video is unrelated to the recent stampede in Tirupati and dates back to April 2022.
     A user on X (formerly Twitter) shared the viral video on January 9, 2025, with the caption, "There is a father in the Tirupati accident who could not even get an ambulance. Carrying his son on his shoulders. This is a shame on humanity."
     The post has been viewed over a thousand times with users sharing it under the same false claim, believing it to be true.
     To verify the claim, the Fact Check Desk conducted a reverse image search of the keyframes from the viral video using Google Lens. The search revealed a report by TV9 Bharatvarsh, published on April 26, 2022, which featured visuals from the same video. This confirms that the viral video is not recent but over three years old.
     According to a report by the TV9 Bharatvarsh website, the incident occurred in Tirupati in April 2022. Ambulance drivers at RUIA Hospital allegedly forced a father to transport his son’s body on a motorcycle. Following the incident, the state government suspended the senior resident medical officer of the hospital and issued a show-cause notice to the hospital superintendent.
     At the time, the then TDP chief, N. Chandrababu Naidu (now Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh), expressed grief over the incident. On April 26, 2022, he shared the video on X and criticised the administration of the then Chief Minister, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
     The Desk also found a clarification issued by Andhra Pradesh Police regarding the viral video. In a post on X shared on January 9, 2025, the police refuted the claim, stating:
     "Beware of old videos being circulated as recent footage of the Tirupati stampede. This video is not of yesterday's accident but of an incident that took place in Tirupati in 2022. We request people to verify facts before sharing to avoid spreading misinformation."
     Read the full fact-check report here: https://bit.ly/3DRcMh2
     For verification or authenticity of any claim going viral on social media, contact the PTI Fact Check Desk via WhatsApp at +91-8130503759.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)