The viral picture of a blood river is not from India and is four years old.

July 26, 2021 Shriya Handoo

Spread the truth:

An old image of rainwater mixed with animal blood flowing on the streets has been viral on social media after Eid-ul-Adha with a misleading claim. The picture has been taking rounds after India celebrated the festival of sacrifice on 21st July 2021. The viral image is shown with a river of blood and a rickshaw wading through waterlogged streets filled with blood. The image has been shared on social media. Caption in Hindi that reads-

“कल कुछ सेक्युलर लोगों ने मुझे कहा कि आपने ईद की मुबारकबाद क्यों नहीं दी ? मैंने कहा कि अभी थोड़ा रुकिए ईद की खुशी में आपके लिए शाम तक रूह अफजा शर्बत का प्रबंध किया गया है उसे पीकर दिखाना फिर अच्छा लगे तो मुझे बताना, उसके बाद आपको मुबारकवाद दूँगा । तो सेक्युलर भाइयो आप लोग हाथ में जग लेकर जाओ और मौज से पियो..नदी बह रही है शर्बत की”

Translation- Yesterday some secular people asked me why didn’t wish Eid Mubarak? I said, wait for a little now, in the joy of Eid, Rooh Afza sherbet has been arranged for you till evening, if you like to drink it, then tell me, after that, I will congratulate you. So secular brothers, take a jug in your hand and drink it with pleasure.. the river is flowing with sherbet.

The picture has been shared on various social media platforms-

Facebook

Click here to view all Facebook post with similar claim.

Twitter

कल कुछ सेक्युलर लोगों ने मुझे कहा कि आपने ईद की मुबारकबाद क्यों नहीं दी ?

मैंने कहा कि अभी थोड़ा रुकिए ईद की खुशी में आपके लिए शाम तक रूह अफजा शर्बत का प्रबंध किया गया है उसे पीकर दिखाना फिर अच्छा लगे तो मुझे बताना, उसके बाद आपको मुबारकवाद दूँगा । pic.twitter.com/RhFUd7yO6T

— गुलशन कौंडिन्य (@Gulshan_72) July 22, 2021

कल कुछ सेक्युलर लोगों ने मुझे कहा कि आपने ईद की मुबारकबाद क्यों नहीं दी ?
मैंने कहा कि अभी थोड़ा रुकिए ईद की खुशी में आपके लिए शाम तक रूह अफजा शर्बत का प्रबंध किया गया है उसे पीकर दिखाना फिर अच्छा लगे तो मुझे बताना, उसके बाद आपको मुबारकवाद दूँगा..अभी पीकर दिखाओ ये… pic.twitter.com/Crp79Cs6I2

— आचार्य प्रशान्त शर्मा (@aach_prashant) July 22, 2021

कल कुछ #सेक्युलर लोगों ने मुझे कहा कि आपने #ईद की मुबारकबाद क्यों नहीं दी ?
मैंने कहा कि अभी थोड़ा रुकिए ईद की खुशी में आपके लिए शाम तक #रूह_अफजा_शर्बत का प्रबंध किया गया है उसे पीकर दिखाना फिर अच्छा लगे तो मुझे बताना, उसके बाद आपको मुबारकवाद दूँगा…

अभी तक इसको पीने नही आए।😏 pic.twitter.com/bCZX069ljd

— हिंदू_बॉय🙏🚩💞🇮🇳 (@keshu_777) July 22, 2021

Truth

The image is from the Eid celebrations of Dhaka, not India, and is 4 years old.

While searching about the viral post, we did a google reverse image search and found out that the viral image is from the Eid celebrations of Dhaka. We found a similar report of News-laundry from September 2016 This Eid, ‘rivers of blood flowed down Dhaka’s streets. Here’s why. According to this report, the people of Dhaka ended up sacrificing animals on the streets of the capital. The image shows the poor drainage system of the capital and the poor awareness of the designated spots to sacrifice animals.

We also found a BBC report from 2016 on a similar incident that says nearly 100,000 livestock were sacrificed in Dhaka this year, according to BBC Bengali, mainly on the streets or at underground car parks in residential buildings. Dhaka flooding: Why are there ‘rivers of blood’ at Eid? According to the BBC report, almost every year there is some amount of blood on the streets as many families slaughter their livestock on the road. It clears away after a few days. But the heavy rain this year has exaggerated this, making it look as if the streets are awash with blood.

Another report by the Dhaka Tribune- Rivers of blood in Dhaka that used the viral image.

According to the Guardian report- Rivers of blood flow on streets of Dhaka after Eid animal sacrifices authorities in Dhaka said they had established hundreds of designated sacrifice spots in the run-up to the festival to make it easier to clean away blood and animal carcasses. But local media said most residents eschewed the special areas, preferring to make sacrifices in their garages or on the streets outside their homes.

We also found a few tweets from 2016 Eid-ul-Adha.

Twitter

A bit of rain and Eid and the roads run red with blood. #Dhaka #Bangladesh pic.twitter.com/7WJRxAj8LN

— Edward Rees (@ReesEdward) September 13, 2016

Many netizens asked about the above tweet to us in 2016, i.e. five years ago, and we cleared then

Goats fr target prctice? RT @ReesEdward: A bit of rain and Eid and the roads run red with blood. #Dhaka #Bangladesh pic.twitter.com/mQjiV3JJai

— King Kobra (@king00kobra) September 14, 2016

YouTube

A YouTube video from 2016 Eid celebrations from Dhaka. The video was posted on YouTube by RT which is a global news network broadcasting from Moscow and Washington studios. The video was posted on 15th September 2016.