Congo video misrepresented as recent Zimbabwe ferry disaster
A media outlet called Jagoron News published a video claiming to show the recent ferry disaster in Zimbabwe. However, a Dismislab fact-check found that the video actually shows a boat sinking in Lake Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo on October 3, 2024.
On August 18, Jagoron News published a video on its Facebook page with the caption, “84 killed in a ferry accident in Zimbabwe, including 18 children.” The video shows a boat gradually tilting before eventually sinking into the water. Mountains can be seen in the distance along the shoreline.
By the time this report was published, the video had been viewed 230,000 times. It had received more than 3,700 reactions and been shared more than 700 times.
Another page named Jagoron also posted the same video with the same headline. Before this report was published, the video had been viewed more than 30,000 times and shared more than 130 times. The email address, WhatsApp number and website link listed on this page match the information provided on Jagoron News’ Facebook page.
During the investigation, Dismislab conducted reverse image searches using several keyframes from the video and found a video report published by Al Jazeera on October 3, 2024. The scenes in that report bear a notable resemblance to those in the circulating video. The Al Jazeera report was titled, “Boat Sinks in Democratic Republic of Congo.” Its video description said, “The video shows a boat carrying passengers sinking in Lake Kivu in eastern Congo. Witnesses say at least 50 people were killed.”
A relevant keyword search also found a report published by the Indian media outlet The Times of India. Two images used in that report exactly match scenes from the circulating video. The October 3, 2024, report said, “A boat carrying 100 passengers sank in Lake Kivu in eastern Congo on Thursday. At least 50 people were killed, according to witnesses cited by the Associated Press.”
Therefore, the video circulated as footage of the recent ferry disaster in Zimbabwe actually shows a boat sinking in Lake Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, in October 2024.
For context, a passenger ferry sank in Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe, on August 11. According to a report by the international news agency Reuters, the government-owned ferry was carrying about 180 passengers.
