A video has gone viral on social media which apparently shows a massive explosion caused by a road accident. The video is being circulated with the claim that two electric vehicles (EVs) collided resulting in the explosion.
A Twitter user, Sanatan Maverick (@SanatanMaverick), shared the video on August 2, 2023 with the same claim. The Pune Municipal Corporation and Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd were tagged in the tweet. (Archive)
A video,showing what can happen when 2 EVs collide.Note that both sides of #freeway have been shut down,there are no fire apparatus present because,once a #lithium #battery ignites, it cannot be easily #extinguished & the fumes are toxic.
@PMCPune @PMPMLPune FYI pic.twitter.com/YxF4TCN4OZ— SanatanMaverick (@SanatanMaverick) August 2, 2023
Another user named Captain Singh, FICArb, 73K (@captsingh), shared the video on July 29, 2023, with the same claim, also mentioning how once a lithium battery ignites, cannot be easily extinguished and the fumes are toxic. (Archive)
What happens when 2 EVs collide.
Once lithium battery ignites, it cannot be easily extinguished and fumes are toxic pic.twitter.com/NMDXyK0Pcj
— Captain Singh, FICArb, 73K (@captsingh) July 29, 2023
The video has been going viral on Facebook as well. An account by the name Bo McInnis posted the video on August 1, 2023, suggesting the overall excitement about EVs might be misplaced. (Archive)
When two EV’s collide. The battery fires are not easily extinguished and are giving firefighters a problem. Also the fumes from the batteries are extremely toxic. I’m not convinced we are approaching this correctly.
Posted by Bo McInnis on Tuesday, 1 August 2023
Several similar claims are circulating on social media. (link 1, link 2.)
Fact Check
We picked one of the key-frames of the video and ran a reverse image search with it. This led us to a report by The Willits News which was published on July 17, 2013. According to the report, the accident took place when a truck carrying 119 gas canisters ran into a passenger bus of 28 people in Moscow. The truck blew up causing a series of blasts as the canisters exploded.
According to another article by RIA Novosti, after exiting from the Enthusiasts Highway to the Moscow Ring Road, a bus and an Isuzu truck met with an accident resulting in the explosion of the gas cylinders. The driver of the truck was injured and was assisted immediately. No casualties were reported.
Taking a cue from this, we ran a keyword search and found a YouTube video that was published in July 2013. The video is a recording of the dashboard camera of another car from July 13, 2013 around 6 pm. At the 17th second, the collision is visible and the truck catches fire in the next few seconds. The gas canisters can be seen falling out and bursting into flames.
Therefore, the claim that the viral video shows an accident caused due to the collision of two EVs is false. The accident involved a truck carrying gas canisters which is why there was a massive explosion. The truck had collided with a bus on the Moscow Ring Road.
Kajol Nanavati is an intern at Alt News.
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