Amidst the India-Pakistan conflict and post Operation Sindoor, several visuals are being widely shared on social media platforms claiming damage done to Indian aircraft by the Pakistan Armed Forces. Users shared a picture of the last rites at some location and claimed that they were the last rites of a Rafale pilot.
During the investigation, we found the image to be old and unrelated. Also, India has maintained that all the Indian fighter pilots are back home.
Claim:
X user Ch Naveed shared the image with a false claim.
Other users are also sharing the image with the same claim.
Investigation:
We ran a reverse image search on the image.
We found the images on a stock images website, Alamy.
The caption said: People attend mass funeral of fifteen school girls at Bamroli village, near Bodeli, about 175 kilometers (108 miles) south of Ahmadabad, India, Wednesday, April 16, 2008. A bus plunged nearly 50 feet (15 meters) into a canal in western India early Wednesday, killing at least 41 schoolchildren going to take an examination and three others, an official said. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
The accident occurred in 200,8 killing around 44 children.
We also found the image with same caption on cnn.com.
During the recent press briefing, Air Marshal AK Bharti confirmed that all Indian pilots have returned safely.
Conclusion: An old image from 2008 of the funeral of 15 school girls in Bamroli in Gujarat is being shared as recent with the claim of the funeral of an Indian pilot. The viral claim is false.
