Old image shared as roads dilapidated in Bangladesh due to Cylone Amphan

After Cyclone Amphan hit large parts of coastal areas in India and Bangladesh this month, an image of a dilapidated road started circulating on social media. Twitter user Rezwan posted the image with the message, “Cyclone #Amphan ripped off road carpeting in rural Bangladesh. Is it the power of the winds or poor construction to blame?”

Another user NH Pranto tweeted the same image without mentioning any country. On May 23, Facebook page Shantipur posted the image with the Bengali message, “এই প্রথম দেখলাম ঝড়ে রাস্তা উড়িয়ে নিয়ে চলে গেছে..”. The post has been shared more than 2,500 times.

Alt News has also received fact-check requests on its mobile application.

Fact-check

With the help of Google reverse image search, Alt News found that the image was posted by Malaysia-centric Facebook pages (1, 2) in December 2019.

The image on the left – image shared as of damaged roads in Bangladesh – has been juxtaposed with the image on the right – image shared by Malaysian pages in December 2019 – in the comparison posted below.

While we are unable to establish the context and the origin of the image, it is evident that it is unrelated to the recent Cyclone Amphan in Bangladesh as it was first shared on social media by Malaysia-centric Facebook pages.