Arjun, Alia And Many Shared A 2016 Video Of Yamuna Expressway Accident And It’s Creating Panic

Delhi is going blind, people.

And no, it’s not JUST the deadly smog to blame for this.

Behold the capital, its air shrouded in poison, visibility be damned, and looking like a scene from a horrific dystopian film.

For the common man, air pollution is just a number, not a tangible reality. Until a WhatsApp video tells them otherwise. Because, come on, who in their right mind would doubt the credibility of information circulated on WhatsApp and Twitter, right? RIGHT?

WRONG.

A horrific video about the Delhi smog causing an 18-car-pile-up on the Yamuna Expressway has gone viral.

Greater_Noida: Fog leads to 18-vehicle pile up on Yamuna Expressway. @htTweets pic.twitter.com/mhfSmqnD18

— Pankaj Parashar (@PANKAJPARASHAR_) November 8, 2017

But here’s something that’s even more horrific—THE VIDEO IS FROM LAST YEAR!

Apparently, the video was from an accident that occurred in December 2016 and resulted in several videos taken by the bystanders from different angles. The incident was all over the news.

So how did this video resurface this year? It all began when a YouTube channel reshared it yesterday.

The reshared video got picked up by several Twitter users, eventually going viral.

A few prominent celebs shared the video too, clearly not helping the situation.

There were those who did not set store by the virality of the video and did their research. Many of them condemned the sharing of the video, pointing out that it was an old one.

What’s worse is that several news channels too jumped on the viral bandwagon and shared the ‘news’, without pausing to verify it.

But wait, the smog thickens. There are news reports of an accident actually happening on the Expressway. But still, it is NOT the one that is being so rampantly propagated all over social media.

Uttar Pradesh: Ten vehicles collide on Yamuna Expressway in Gautam Buddha Nagar's Dankaur due to thick fog, several people injured. pic.twitter.com/4XtC6M8OcU

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) November 8, 2017

As you can clearly see, everything from the stats to the pictures, are different from the original viral news.

It’s one thing to want to spread awareness about the deadly poison that Delhi is breathing in. However, are we that blinded by the smog that we cannot verify our sources before we share panic-inducing visuals that are, for the lack of a better term, fake?

We scream foul every time news channels share regurgitated footage of floods and rains every year for TRPs. But then, aren’t we doing the same thing for a couple of retweets and attention?

How about patience, some fact-checking, and a little tact before we share information that has panic-inducing potential?

The smog blinding us is enough poor visibility for the day. Let’s not allow panic to blind us too.