A video is widespread on social media claiming that deer and other wildlife have been washed away in the ongoing floods in the state of Kerala.
Among those who shared it on Facebook was news portal OneIndia Tamil. They have now deleted the video but it had attracted more than one lakh views and 2,700 shares in the four hours that it was live.
The video was also shared on Twitter, including by a Mirror Now journalist.
Kerala rains, deers presumably black bucks caught on flood water, struggling to swim to safety. pic.twitter.com/WcFAOkWOzF
— Pramod Madhav (@madhavpramod1) August 10, 2018
Video is of an Odisha flooding incident from July
A Facebook user K Tony Jose posted that an incident of flooding that occurred in Ganjam district, Odisha in July, 2018, is being shared as recent Kerala floods. He also posted the original link of the video published by local Odisha news channel Kanak News.
The incident was also reported by other media outlets like Odisha TV and News Odisha. On July 14, flood water swept more than 20 blackbucks in Kharakhari river, Purusottampur under Ghumsur wildlife division in Ganjam district. All the animals were later rescued by forest officials.
Over 25 people have lost their lives in the ongoing Kerala floods due to heavy rains. In such disaster-ridden situations, it is important that unverified, sensationalist information is not shared which could create further panic in those already affected by the floods.
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