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| - Fact Check: Old image from Australia passed off as Ukrainian firefighters amid ongoing war
Amid Russia-Ukraine war, an image of three exhausted-looking firefighters has gone viral with the claim that these are Ukrainian firefighters and rescuers. The India Today Anti-Fake News War room (AFWA) found that the viral image does not show the firefighters from Ukraine.
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India Today Fact Check
This is a 2019 photo of three exhausted Australian firefighters battling bushfires in Tasmania.
As Ukraine continues to resist the Russian aggression, several firefighters from other European countries have reportedly come forward to help the firefighters of Ukraine. Amid this, an image of three exhausted-looking firefighters has gone viral with the claim that these are Ukrainian firefighters and rescuers.
Several Facebook users shared the photo with the same claim.
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The India Today Anti-Fake News War room (AFWA) found that the viral image does not show the firefighters from Ukraine. This is a 2019 photo of three Australian firefighters battling bushfires in Tasmania.
AFWA probe
With the help of reverse image search, we found that this image was shared by an Australian music band called The Wolfe Brothers on their Facebook page on February 1, 2019. As per this Facebook post, this image is of three firefighters in Tasmania who were fighting a wild bushfire. The post also said that this photo was captured by another firefighter, John Lyons.
Taking this as a clue, with the help of a keywords search, we found a news report with the same viral image published on an Australian news portal called SBSNews on February 3, 2019.
According to this news report, this is photo showed worn-out Tasmanian firefighters who were struggling to control several bushfires in the state. The report also said, “The photo, taken by firefighter John Lyons and shared by The Wolfe Brothers, shows Jason Luck, John Kroczewski, Paul Catteral covered in ash.”
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The same image was also published in the Daily Mail on February 3, 2019, with the headline, “The unsung heroes of this great nation: Photo of three exhausted firefighters covered in soot goes viral as Tasmania is ravaged by out-of-control blazes.”
The incident of bushfires in Tasmania was reported by The Guardian. Reportedly, about 520 crews worked on more than 50 fires. About 173,000 hectares were burnt across Tasmania, the report said.
As per the Fire Centre Research Hub of Australia, these fires were ignited by lightning storms in December 28, 2018, January 16, 2019, and January 29, 2019.
Thus, it is clear that an old image of Australian firefighters from Tasmania has been passed off as Ukrainian firefighters.
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