‘White structure near accident mishap’ found to be ISKCON Temple, not mosque
Viral tweet giving communal angle to Odisha train accident proven false
New Delhi: As the chain of accidents on the railway line in Balasore district of Odisha on Friday resulted in nearly 300 deaths and left 800 train passengers injured, social media users were found giving a communal angle to the fatal mishap.
A tweet by The Random Indian (@randomsena) included a photo with an overhead view of the derailed coaches and an arrow pointing to a white building nearby, supplemented by the words, “Just Saying… Yesterday Was Friday”. The thread of tweets by the user seemed an attempt to prove that Muslims had a hand in the train accident, reports Alt News.
The post has been retweeted by more than 5,200 users and has received about 11,500 likes so far. The tweet also went viral on Facebook, all of which fuelled the idea that the accident was an outcome of a plan by Muslims, as many users supported the notion and added their own ‘suggestions’ on dealing with whom they assumed to be ‘guilty’.
Following a round of fact-check conducted by the Alt News staff, including a confirmation by journalists on site of the accident, however, it was found that the structure shown in the viral photo on social media was not a mosque but the Bahanaga ISKCON Temple, which is coloured white.
A photo of the entry to the road leading to the Temple shows a board indicating that it belongs to ISKCON. Alt News has also uploaded a video that shows the entrance to the structure and a five-month-old video of ISKCON Odisha unit, all of which confirm that the structure claimed by the Twitter user to be a mosque is an ISKCON Temple. Alt News adds that the authorities of the ISKCON Temple in Bahanaga themselves confirmed that the accident occurred near the Temple and that the structure seen in photos of the accident site was the ISKCON Temple in Bahanaga.
The idea given rise to, that the structure seen partly in the picture shared with the tweet is a mosque and that the accident was a plan by Muslims, is baseless, says Alt News, also calling it absurd to say that the structure being in the vicinity of the railway line had anything to do with the mishap.
While some users who retweeted the viral tweet have asked PM Narendra Modi to pull down all mosques situated near railway lines, Modi, who visited the accident spot and the Baleswar District Hospital on Saturday, has given instructions to restore the railway line. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has also said that the work to lay one of the two tracks affected due to the accident has been completed and the other track is being laid.
3400 RTs and 10000 likes, 10 Lakh views for a tweet by @randomsena with conspiracy theory blaming Friday/Mosque/Muslims for the #CoromondalExpress train mishap.
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) June 3, 2023
It is an Iskon Temple. https://t.co/qwVehNW4Sq https://t.co/r2hi9xcAwx pic.twitter.com/eyOprndC3B
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Indian national stabbed to death in Canada
Ottawa, (PTI): An Indian national was stabbed to death near Canada's Ottawa city and police have taken one suspect in custody, the Indian mission in the country said.
The High Commission of India in Ottawa, the capital of Canada, said the incident happened in Rockland. It did not identify the victim.
"We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of an Indian national in Rockland near Ottawa due to a stabbing. Police have stated a suspect has been taken into custody," The High Commission posted on X on Friday.
"We are in close contact through a local community association to provide all possible assistance to the bereaved kin," it said.
According to CTV News, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said a shooting incident happened near Lalonde Street in Rockland just before 3 pm on Friday.
The site is roughly 40 kilometres east of downtown Ottawa.
Police have not yet said what charges the person in custody faces, the report said.
OPP said there is no concern for public safety.
“As we are just in the early stages of the investigation, there is no further information that can be provided,” the CTV News quoted OPP as saying.
