An image showing a broken down bus in water, in a hilly terrain has gone viral on social media platforms.
Those sharing have linked it to the bus accident in Uttarakhand on 26 June 2025, where at least two pilgrims died and ten others went missing.
The bus fell into the Alaknanda river in Rudraprayag while it was headed towards Badrinath Dham, one of the four Char Dham pilgrimage sites for Hindus.
Media outlets such as NewsNine One, AsiaNet and News18 Assam also shared the viral image.
What we found: At first, we noticed some irregularities with the image such as a blurred background with the mountainous range and trees looking unnatural.
Additionally, the waves and colour of water along with the sticker on the back of the bus looks hazy and very smooth.
We, then, ran the image on AI-detection websites such as Hive Moderation and Was It AI and found that the image was created using AI.
Here are some images of the bus accident in Rudraprayag.
Conclusion: An AI-generated image has gone viral to falsely claim that it shows the recent bus accident in Uttarakhand.
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