Old photo from Taiwan circulated as a claim of a collapsed garment building in Gazipur due to the earthquake

An earthquake was felt in various parts of the country at 10:38 AM on November 21st. According to the Meteorological Department, its magnitude on the Richter scale was $5.7$. In connection with this event, a photo has been posted on social media claiming that it is a scene of a garment factory building collapsing in Sreepur, Gazipur.

See posts circulated on Facebook with this claim: here (Archive) and here (Archive).

Fact Check

The Rumor Scanner Team’s investigation found that the circulated photo is not from Bangladesh. In fact, a photo of a leaning, damaged building from an earthquake that occurred in Taiwan in 2018 has recently been circulated with the aforementioned claim.

As a starting point for the investigation, the Rumor Scanner Team looked into whether any garment building in Gazipur collapsed or if any casualties occurred during the November 21st earthquake.

A report published on the website of bdnews24 states that at least 400 people were injured in Gazipur while rushing out of buildings during the November 21st earthquake; the administration reported that most of them were workers. The report also mentions that a four-story building in the Chakulia area of Ward No. 24 of the city tilted. Furthermore, cracks appeared in the Gazipur Press Club building.

Additionally, a report published on the website of Prothom Alo states that 252 workers from various factories in Gazipur were injured while rushing down during the Friday earthquake. The injured were taken to various hospitals, including Sreepur Upazila Health Complex, Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital, and Tongi Ahsan Ullah Master Hospital.

In a follow-up report published in Prothom Alo on Saturday, Gazipur Civil Surgeon Mamunur Rahman’s statement was obtained. He said that most of the injured had returned home after treatment. Those currently in the hospital are also out of danger.

The mentioned reports indicate that while approximately 400 people were injured in Gazipur during the November 21st earthquake, there were no reports of a garment building collapse or casualties. Furthermore, the claim of a garment building collapse or casualties in Gazipur due to the earthquake was not substantiated by any other trusted source.

Photo Verification

In the initial stage of photo verification, a report published on February 8, 2018, on the website of the Qatar-based news outlet Al Jazeera was found. The feature image in the report is similar to the photo circulated with the claim. The report states that this is an image of a building damaged by the earthquake in Taiwan. The magnitude of this earthquake, which struck the coast of eastern Taiwan, was $6.4$.

Further investigation into this matter showed the same image published on the website of the American media outlet Voice of America on February 7, 2018. The report, titled ‘Rescue workers are seen by a damaged building after an earthquake hit Hualien, Taiwan,’ also identifies it as a picture of a damaged building after an earthquake in Hualien, Taiwan.

Therefore, it can be definitively stated that the circulated photo of the leaning building is not related to the recent earthquake in Bangladesh.

Thus, the photo of a leaning building from an earthquake that occurred in Taiwan in 2018 has been circulated with the claim that a garment factory building tilted in Gazipur during the November 21st earthquake; which is completely false.

Old photo from Taiwan circulated as a claim of a collapsed garment building in Gazipur due to the earthquake

Fact Check

Photo Verification

Sources