Fake message about Royal Enfield bike catching fire in Bangalore viral on social media

“Royal Enfield Motorcycle Petrol Tank blast. Man burnt alive near electronic City Begur junction Due to petrol tank filled full! Don’t fill full tank in summer!” This message has gone viral on social media along with a video of a man charred to death, claiming that he was burnt alive after the tank of the motorcycle burst, since it had been filled to the brim.

Royal Enfield motorcycle Petrol tank blast. Man burnt alive near electronic City Begur junction (Karnataka)
Due to petrol tank filled full!
Don’t fill full tank in summer !⬇#BulletLovers🙄pic.twitter.com/JO0TFih9EL

— Ajay Tarak™ | KXIP | YUVI (@TArockFreak) April 9, 2018

Apart from Twitter, the message has circulated widely on Facebook as well in the last 24 hours.

Interestingly, a few days prior to this, the same message was circulating on social media but it was then claimed that the incident had occurred in the Malakpet area of Hyderabad.

Royal enfield petrol tank blast at malkapet https://t.co/Oa2tqmhrmapic.twitter.com/nFyid5Tfy3

— Modified Bullets (@ModifiedBullets) April 5, 2018

The message probably first appeared on WhatsApp after which it started spreading on Facebook and Twitter. This was mentioned by a Twitter user who also tagged Hyderabad police for verifying its authenticity.

There is a message circulating in whatsapp saying “Royal Enfield bike caught in fire, after petrol tank blasted due to heat and rider dead in Malakpet with fallowing video”. @hydcitypolice is it true or fake. pic.twitter.com/6un21zNODM

— Suren Pantulu (@iamsurenpantulu) April 4, 2018

These messages that are circulating on social media are fake. No fuel tank has burst due to the petrol tank being filled and no Royal Enfield bike has caught fire. The video that is doing the rounds along with this message is a video of an accident that took place in New Delhi in January 2016. The bike had rammed into a tempo, after which it skid for a few metres before catching fire in which the rider was charred to death. The accident took place in Southwest Delhi’s Shankar Vihar area, and was reported by the Hindustan Times.

Social media users are advised to be circumspect with regard to such information being shared on various platforms, as often such information turns out to be fake.