These photos do not show a baby rescued from Indonesia's Sriwijaya airplane crash
These photos do not show a baby rescued from Indonesia's Sriwijaya airplane crash
(AFP) - A pair of pictures have been shared hundreds of times in multiple Facebook posts alongside a claim that they show a baby who survived Indonesia’s Sriwijaya Air flight that crashed into the sea on January 9, 2021. The claim is false; the pictures have circulated online about a baby who was rescued from a fatal boat disaster in July 2018.
A collage of two photos were posted on Facebook on January 10, 2021.
The Indonesian-language post translates to English as: “Praise be to God” and the text superimposed on the photo collage reads: “This is what God wills You are the best protector, O Allah, the survivor of the fall of the SJ182 plane ,, the baby survives in the sea at night ,, thank God, I hope you’ll be healthy and have a long life, kid.”
Indonesia’s Sriwijaya Air Flight SJ 182, carrying 62 people on board, including 10 children, crashed into the Java Sea on January 9, 2021, shortly after taking off from Jakarta’s airport, AFP reported.
The same photo collage also shared more than 470 times in other Facebook posts.
However, the claim is false.
Google reverse image and keyword searches found the photo shows a baby who survived a deadly boat accident in Indonesia in July 2018.
A photo collage was published on a report by local media Suara.com, headlined: “Touching! Mother drowned after giving her life vest to save the baby.”
The first two paragraphs of the report read: “One baby, 7 months old, was found alive by the SAR and military teams on the waters of Selayar island, South Sulawesi, on Wednesday, July 4, 2018.
“The baby was a victim of MV Lestari Maju, which sank yesterday, Tuesday, July 3.”
The photo’s caption reads: “A 7-month-old baby was found by the SAR and Indonesian military teams alive in the waters of Selayar Island, South Sulawesi, Wednesday (4/7/2018).”
Below is a screenshot comparison between the pictures in the misleading post (L) and Suara.com’s photos (R):
At least 34 people died and more than 150 were rescued in the ferry disaster, which occured in Selayar island, near Sulawesi island, AFP reported on July 4, 2018.
On July 5, 2019, local news site Liputan 6 shared a video of the baby after being rescued from the fatal accident.
