Fact Check: Viral Video Of Mexico Shared As Flooded Hyderabad Airport, Visuals Are 3 Yrs Old

A video has been circulating on social media claiming to be of Hyderabad's Rajeev Gandhi Airport after the unprecedented rainfall flooded some areas of the city.

Screengrab of the viral video

Hyderabad Rains wreaked havoc in the city. Hyderabad reeled with one of the heaviest downpours in the country onn 13 October 2020 (with some areas receiving more than 20 cm rainfall). A lot of videos and photos are being shared on the internet claiming those to be of Hyderabad. While some of them show the actual visuals, the others are just picked up from other places and shared as recent and related to Hyderabad. A video is being shared on social media with a claim that it shows rainwater at Shamshabad Airport [i.e. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA)] in Hyderabad. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.

Shamshabad Airport #HeavyRains pic.twitter.com/PwbI3vl1C6

— MSwood1 (@MSwood1telugu) October 14, 2020

When the screenshots of the video were run through Google Reverse Image Search, many similar videos were found in the search results. It was found that the video is on the internet at least since August 2017.Therefore claims that the video was id Shamshabad Airpot at Hyderabad turned out to be FALSE! Using InVID tool and appropriate keywords, we found that the video is from Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez Ciudad de México (AICM), the international airport of Mexico City. Also, the video is at least three years old. The same video was uploaded on August 31, 2017, by the verified Twitter handles of some Mexican media houses. The caption in Spanish translates to, “AICM has suspended operations because of the rains. This is what some track areas look like"

Suspenden operaciones en el @AICM_mx por las lluvias. Así lucen algunas zonas de pista. https://t.co/mKqbLJobAR Video: @CanalOnceTV. pic.twitter.com/2a2dYsTKkg

— Newsweek México (@NewsweekEspanol) August 31, 2017

Earlier the same video was used to spread fake news claiming the visuals are from Mumbai airport.The video was widespread by many media houses claiming the video to be of Mumbai airport and the delay in flights due to such conditions. Though Mumbaikars refuted the claim clarifying the video was false.

When the screenshots of the video were run through Google Reverse Image Search, many similar videos were found in the search results. It was found that the video is on the internet at least since August 2017.Also, in one of the frames in the video, the flag colors of Mexico can be seen.

RGIA clarifies

The official Twitter handle of Hyderabad airport also confirmed that the viral video is not related to RGIA and operations are normal at the airport. “It has been noticed many fake videos of water logging at RGIA are in circulation. Please be informed that operations at your airport are normal. Your airport is #SafeToFly and you can reach out to our Information Desk at any given time or text us on our social media platforms for assistance,” the official statement said.

pic.twitter.com/V06TR7eWgi

— RGIA Hyderabad (@RGIAHyd) October 15, 2020