Fact Check: False claim of Bomb attack on a Bus in Bengaluru goes viral

A video of a burning bus on a busy road recently went viral. The clip was accompanied by alarming claims that a magnetic bomb had targeted a bus in Bengaluru, allegedly carrying three engineers from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), who were feared dead.

X handle named Pakistan First (@Pak1stTeam) shared the video of the burning bus and claimed, ” A magnetic bomb targeted a bus in Indian city of Bengaluru in which 3 engineers of DRDO were travelling. All three DRDO engineers are feared dead. The incident happened 4 km west of DRDO HAL Tejas flight testing facility.”

Following the above account, another Pak X handle also shared the same video with a matching claim.

As the video was widely shared with the claim, the DFRAC team investigated the claim.

Fact Check

We investigated the viral video first by putting Keyframes into Google reverse image. The investigation led us to multiple media reports where the pictures from the viral video were found. According to a media report by Asianet Newsable, dated 9 July 2024-

‘ a Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus caught fire on the busy M.G. Road near Anil Kumble Circle around 8.50 a.m. on July 9. The bus went up in flames on a busy road in Bengaluru this morning as the driver started the engine. According to sources within the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), the vigilant driver sprung into action and swiftly vacated the bus, guaranteeing that no one was hurt in the incident. The bus belongs to the Koramangala depot.‘

Additionally, Times of India, Bengaluru’s Twitter handle also shared the news about the video.

Hence, no casualties were reported and neither did we find any instance of DRDO engineers in any of the media reports concerning this incident.

In addition to the claim, it was also mentioned that “The incident happened 4 km west of DRDO HAL Tejas flight testing facility”. When we investigated the claim we found that the accident occurred approximately 9 km away from the HAL Flight testing facility, Bengaluru.

Conclusion

Thus from the fact check, it is clear that the Bus fire was accidental and no magnetic bomb blast was involved. Also, no causality has been reported nor was any presence of DRDO engineers on the bus found.

DFRAC Analysis: Misleading