Viral photo of woman on road with oxygen cylinder not recent, is from 2018
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Viral photo of woman on road with oxygen cylinder not recent, is from 2018

The viral photograph was from an incident that took place in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, in April 2018.

Kairvy Grewal    
Viral photograph doing the rounds on social media | Twitter

Viral photograph doing the rounds on social media | Twitter

New Delhi: As India struggles with a massive surge in Covid-19 cases and acute shortage of medical supplies, especially oxygen, a photograph of an old woman sitting on the road with an oxygen cylinder is being shared widely online.

The Facebook page ‘Didi Ke Bolo’, launched by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ahead of the ongoing assembly elections, shared this picture with the hashtag ‘#ResignModi’.

The caption accompanying the photo read: “Kya yeh aatmanirbhar bharat ka udharan hai? (Is this an example of ‘aatmanirbhar’ India)”.

The picture was also shared by journalist Aarif Shah on Twitter and wrote, “This is where India is right now.” The tweet was liked over 2,500 times and shared by more than 1,000 people.

Several other users also shared the image on Twitter, with varying captions criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the central government.

 

Fact check

The viral photo of the woman sitting on the road next to the oxygen cylinder, however, is not recent and was taken in 2018 in Uttar Pradesh’s Agra.

A video report on the incident was uploaded to YouTube by news agency ANI on 7 April 2018.

According to the report, a man was allegedly waiting for an ambulance at Uttar Pradesh’s Agra Medical College while carrying an oxygen cylinder which was attached to his mother.

A picture and a video of the incident had gone viral when his mother was captured sitting on the road near the hospital with an oxygen mask.

The son waited for the ambulance for a long time but it reportedly didn’t arrive. The hospital authorities, at the time, denied allegations that there was a delay in the ambulance.

In the past few weeks, the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has choked health facilities across the country. Acute shortages of beds, ICUs, medicines and oxygen cylinders have been reported, and people have resorted to social media appeals to arrange for the supplies.

The country reported a record 2,95,041 cases in the past 24 hours and 1,82,553 people succumbed to the virus.

Also read: Viral post on UP journalist ‘killed for Kumbh criticism’ is fake, images are from Delhi murder