An image of a rusted steam locomotive surrounded by thick hills apparently from the Soviet period is widely shared on social media claiming it depicts a train that was abandoned in Sri Lanka in 1927 due to a landslide.
The text embedded in the image can be translated as “The railway line between Nuwara Eliya and Ragala Nanuoya was abandoned in the Ragala High Forest area due to the landslide in 1927.”
The image is shared on Facebook in Sinhalese that can translate into the English language to: “Many people post this for fun. Some people in Colombo and around Nuwara Eliya are seriously posting that this happened between Nanuoya and Ragala in Sri Lanka. But this is not one in Sri Lanka. Also, there was a railroad between Nanuoya and Ragala in the past, and now those roads are unused in the wild”.
Here’s the link to the above post.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above claim, and found it to be MISLEADING.
Interestingly, a Russian website carries the same viral image with a caption: “Abandoned locomotive in the Urals”. We searched and found that Urals is a mountain range in Russia.
Several users claim the image depicts a “train graveyard” in the Russian Perm area settlement of Shumkovo. A thorough Google Maps search of the region turned up a railway line encircled by woodlands resembling the ones in the viral image.
A similar video of the Russian train graveyard can be seen in a video news report published by Associated Press on November 2, 2017, with a caption: “A small area in Russia’s Perm region has become a silent cemetery for abandoned steam locomotives, attracting tourists keen to photograph its old, rusting residents.”
WADS Gunasinghe, general manager for Sri Lanka Railways, told AFP that the claim was “baseless”. He further added: “While there are remnants of the old line that was to be continued along the hill country track, there is no such abandoned train anywhere along the hill country route or beyond.”
Thus, it is evident from the above information that the viral image shows an abandoned train in Russia and not Sri Lanka.
If you want to fact-check any story, WhatsApp it now on +91 11 7127 979l9
Error: Contact form not found.
Click here for Latest News updates and viral videos n our AI-powered smart news