Old video spreads, claiming BNP activists set fire to a train over denial of nomination
A video has spread on Facebook claiming that Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) activists set fire to a train in Chattogram after being denied party nominations. However, Dismislab’s fact-check found that the video is from the fire incident on the Benapole Express train in Golapbagh, Dhaka, on January 5, 2024.
The video was posted from a personal Facebook profile. The caption read, “BNP activists set fire to a train near Chattogram’s Olonkar Station after being denied nominations. BNP’s arson terrorism has started again in the country.” The same claim was also shared by several personal profiles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), pages (1, 2), and groups (1, 2) on Facebook.
In the 32-second video, a stationary train is seen with one of its coaches on fire. Several people are recording the scene on their phones. The Somoy TV logo appears in the bottom-right corner of the video.
To verify the video’s source, Dismislab conducted a reverse image search and found a report by Somoy TV. The video report, published on January 5, 2024, was titled, “This time, miscreants set fire to a train in Golapbagh, several burned.” The first 32 seconds of that 1:31-minute report exactly match the video being spread.
Further verification was done by searching with the keywords “Benapole,” “train,” and “fire,” and search results returned several reports (1, 2, 3, 4) published in different media outlets. According to a Prothom Alo report published on February 15, 2024, a fire was set on the Benapole Express train on the night of January 5 last year in Gopibagh, Dhaka. The train was coming to Dhaka from Benapole in Jashore. Three coaches of the train were burned in the fire. Four people died, and several others were injured in the incident.
That means, the video shared with the claim that BNP activists set fire to a train near Olonkar Station in Chattogram after being denied nominations is actually from the Benapole Express train fire incident in Gopibagh, Dhaka, one year earlier. It has no relation to the nomination of BNP candidates.
Previously, the video of the Benapole Express train fire had been spread in different contexts. Dismislab has already published a fact-check report debunking the claim.
Notably, on November 3, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) announced its preliminary list of candidates for 237 constituencies ahead of the upcoming national election. Among them, the party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, was nominated for three constituencies, and the acting chairman, Tarique Rahman, for one.
According to several news reports (1, 2, 3), after the list was published, supporters of those denied nominations held protests in various parts of the country. However, there have been no reports so far of any train being set on fire over the denial of nomination.
