Fact Check: Viral video of a man carrying his son’s body on shoulders is not related to recent Tirupati stampede
As many as six people lost their lives and several others were injured after a stampede broke out near the Tirupati
Claim :
Viral video shows father of a victim, who lost his life in the Tirupati stampede, carrying his son on his shoulders, not finding an ambulance to take him homeFact :
The video is an old one and is not related Tirumala incident
As many as six people lost their lives and several others were injured after a stampede broke out near the Tirupati temple on January 8, 2025, according to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD). The incident occurred near Vishnu Nivasam, close to the Tirumala Srivari Vaikuntha Dwara ticketing counter, during the distribution of 'darshan' tokens. The six victims of the stampede were Mallika (49), Nirmala (52), Lavanya (40), Rajini (47), Naidu Babu (51) and Santhi (34). Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday announced a ₹25 lakh ex-gratia amount to the bereaved families killed in the stampede.
Meanwhile, a video is in circulation showing a father carrying the body of his son on his bike, as transporting in an ambulance costed Rs 20,000. The video had the text: “They asked 20000 rs for an ambulance to transport a 12-year-old child who died in Tirupati government hospital. The child’s father carries his son 90 KM due to lack of money”
It has been in circulation with the caption in Hindi: “एक पिता को एम्बुलेंस तक नहीं
(Viewer discretion advised: The video contains some Graphical Content, please maintain discretion)
Here is the Archive link of the Claim.
Fact Check:
The claim is Misleading. Though the video shows an incident that occurred in Tirupati it is from the year 2022. When we checked the death list in the Tirupati incident, we found that there is no child on the victim’s list.
When we performed a reverse image search, we found that the video was shared by OneIndia news on April 27, 2022, with the title: “Tirupati man forced to carry son’s body on shoulders for 90 km to reach home”. The description of the video states that ‘In Andhra Pradesh's Tirupati town, a man was forced to carry the body of his son on his shoulders and travel on the pillion of a scooter for 90 km to reach his home. The man had to carry the body after the ambulance drivers in a government hospital in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati town allegedly demanded ₹10,000 to transport the body.’
(Viewer discretion advised: The video contains some Graphical Content, please maintain discretion)
According to a report published in Hindustan Times on April 22, 2022, a man was forced to carry the body of his son on his shoulders and travel on the pillion of a scooter for 90 km to reach his home, after the ambulance driver in a government hospital in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati town allegedly demanded ₹10,000 to transport the body.
The incident happened at Ruia government general hospital in Tirupati. A video clipping of the father, Narasimhulu, a laborer working in mango orchards, lifting the body of his 10-year-old son from the stretcher, carrying it on his shoulders and pillion-riding a bike driven by a youth, went viral on social media.
As the local television channels flashed the news, Tirupati district collector K Venkata Ramana Reddy ordered an inquiry by local revenue divisional officer Kanaka Narasa Reddy, deputy superintendent of police B Narasappa, and district medical and health officer U Srihari and ordered the suspension of resident medical officer Dr S. Saraswati Devi and issued a show cause notice to hospital superintendent K. Bharati for their alleged negligence in controlling what the authorities called the “ambulance mafia.”
Hence, the viral video showing a father carrying his son’s dead body on a bike because ambulances were costly, is not recent and not related to the Tirupati stampede. The claim is Misleading.
