Fact-Check: Old Story on Indian Navy Submarine Sinking Falsely Shared as Recent

In 2013, an Indian submarine exploded and sank. It is being falsely shared as recent after the Odisha train crash.

A screenshot of an article with a headline that reads, "Submarine INS Sindhurakshak sinks after blasts; shows sub-par naval abilities", is going viral on the internet.

What is the claims?: Users are claiming that an Indian submarine met with an accident and sank following the devastating train accident in Odisha, which happened on Friday, 2 June.

• The claim also blames Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the accident.

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)

What's the truth?: This accident is not recent as claimed.

• The viral post carries a screenshot of an article that was published in 2013. That is when submarine INS Sindhurakshak sank.

How did we find out the truth?: We performed a keyword search and came across an old article with the same headline and image as the screenshot.

• The article was posted by The Economic Times on 15 August 2013.

• The report stated about a Russian-made Kilo-class submarine, INS submarine Sindhurakshak, exploded and sank on 14 August 2013.

• It also mentioned that the submarine had returned to India from Russia after '$80-million upgrade'.

• Another article by Hindustan Times shared on 14 August 2013 stated that according to the Indian navy, around 18 sailors on board in the submarine 'were feared dead'.

Submarine's photo seen in the viral claim: We performed a reverse image search on the image and found it used in a story by the news agency Reuters.

• The report was shared on 14 August 2013 and was about the Indian submarine's accident.

• The report carried 11 images of the submarines and the viral image was also one of them.

• The caption along with that image, said, "The Indian Navy's Sindhurakshak submarine is docked in Visakhapatnam in this February 13, 2006 file photo."

Conclusion: An old incident from 2013 of an Indian submarine sinking is being shared as recent.

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