As India celebrated its 77th Independence Day, an image went viral on social media, claiming that the Indian Air Force MI-171 helicopter crashed in Nigeria leaving 26 soldiers dead and eight injured.
A Facebook user shared this post and wrote: “आजादी के पावन अवसर पर एक अनहोनी | भारतीय वायुसेना का MI-171 हेलिकॉप्टर क्रैश: नाइजीरिया में हुआ हादसा, 26 सैनिकों की मौत, 8 घायल| शत शत नमन.” [English translation: An untoward incident on the auspicious occasion of independence. MI-171 helicopter crash of Indian Air Force: 26 soldiers killed, 8 injured.]
This post can be seen here.
It is being widely shared on Facebook and Twitter with a similar claim.
News outlet Dainik Bhaskar also shared this post with a similar claim.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the viral post, and found it to be false.
Running a Reverse Image Search, the NM team traced a report in The Guardian, dated October 05, 2018. According to the report, the image shows the wreckage of one of the two Nigeria Air Force (NAF) F-7NI jets that crashed after a mid-air collision in Katampe Hills in Abuja. The image was clicked by photographer Philip Ojisua, The Guardian.
Our team also came across a report by NDTV, dated August 15, 2023, saying that 26 members of the Nigerian security forces were killed and eight wounded in an ambush by gunmen in central Nigeria. Later, a Mi-171 helicopter of the Nigerian Air Force, while on a “casualty evacuation mission”, crashed after take-off from Zungeru. Nowhere the report mentions that the crashed helicopter belongs to Indian Air Force.
A tweet by PIB Fact Check also refutes the viral claim. The caption reads: “A post by @DainikBhaskar claims that an Indian Air Force MI-171 helicopter crashed in Nigeria, killing 26 soldiers and injuring 8 soldiers. #PIBFactCheck This claim is false. The helicopter that crashed did not belong to @IAF_MCC .”
.@DainikBhaskar द्वारा एक पोस्ट में दावा किया जा रहा है कि भारतीय वायुसेना का MI-171 हेलीकॉप्टर नाइजीरिया में क्रैश हुआ जिसमें 26 सैनिकों की मौत और 8 सैनिक घायल हुए।#PIBFactCheck
✔️यह दावा फ़र्ज़ी है।
✔️ क्रैश होने वाला हेलीकॉप्टर @IAF_MCC का नहीं था। pic.twitter.com/OQANjaPqWb
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) August 15, 2023
Later, Dainik Bhaskar also deleted the tweet and issued an apology for the same.
Therefore, we can conclusively say that a post of Nigerian copter crash has gone viral, falsely claiming that the helicopter belongs to Indian Air Force.
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