A video showing a group of people reciting the Quran on a roadside has gone viral on social media. The 11-second footage shows several people reading the Holy Book while uniformed personnel stand nearby.
The video is shared by social media users with a caption suggesting that it shows Muslims in Nepal praying after the catastrophic floods that struck the country on August 26, killing over 1,000 people.
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “This is the power of faith. This video is from Nepal where the Quran is being recited and prayers are being offered, Masha’Allah.”
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The video is from Kyrgyzstan. It shows an incident where a six-year-old child went missing in Kyrgyzstan’s Kegeti Valley, prompting an international rescue effort as a village hafiz recited the Quran and prayed for safety.
On a Google reverse image search, we found that the same video was shared by an Instagram account, sez1lllmka, on June 25, two months before the Nepal floods occurred. The bio section of the Instagram page read, ‘Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Kyrgyz Republic | Press Service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations for Chui Oblast.’
The same Instagram account posted other videos showing uniformed personnel wearing the same outfits as seen in the viral footage. These videos clearly show ‘Kyrgyzstan Rescue’ written on the life jackets worn by the personnel.
A video containing scenes matching the viral footage was posted by a Kyrgyz media outlet's Facebook account on June 26. The caption associated with the video suggests that a six-year-old boy was swept away after a vehicle fell into a river in Kyrgyzstan’s Kegeti Gorge. Volunteers from Kazakhstan, Russia and elsewhere have joined the ongoing search. Hafizs in Birdik village are reciting the Quran and praying for the boy’s safe recovery, while organisers continue seeking volunteers and specialised equipment.
Taking a hint, we searched with relevant keywords and found that the same video was shared by a Krygz news channel, Akipress, on June 26. The report suggested that the body of the missing 6-year-old boy was recovered from the Kegeti Gorge River.
The incident was also reported by another Kyrgyz website, Open Kg, on June 26.
According to the report, on June 23, a car fell into the Kegeti River in Kyrgyzstan’s Chuy region. The car contained two women and five children. The two women and three children managed to escape the vehicle. However, two children remained trapped inside. Rescue teams had already recovered the body of a 12-year-old girl.
However, on June 26, the body of the 6-year-old boy was also recovered.
Thus, based on the above incidents, we can ascertain that the viral video is old and has no relation to the Nepal floods.
