A video of a mob surrounding a bus in flames is widely being shared on social media.
The video is shared with a caption claiming that the crowd who were protesting against a recent Supreme Court’s ruling on the sub-classification of Dalit groups for reservation purposes had set a school bus on fire with children onboard. The caption also claimed that the incident happened in Bihar during Bharat Bandh on August 22, 2024.
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “Mob Tries To Burn Bus With Children On Board During Bharat Bandh In Bihar.”
SouthCheck found the claim to be false. We found that the bus mistakenly drove over a burning tyre on a road blocked by Bharat Bandh protesters.
On searching with relevant keywords, we found that the video was also shared by India Today. The report suggests that a school bus with children on it drove over torched tyres in Bihar's Gopalganj. This incident happened when the protest was happening in the area amid the nationwide strike.
Hindustan Times also reported about the incident on August 22, 2024. The report quoted the Gopalganj Police who clarified that though people protesting had burned tyres and blocked the road, they did not attempt to burn the bus. Instead, the bus drove over one of the burning tyres on the crowded street.
Some media organizations had also reported that the bus was torched by protestors but they deleted the post later.
Hence, we can ascertain that the viral claim is false.