Does a photograph shared on Facebook genuinely show a "horrific accident" in which "at least 135 people died after a truck collided with a bus"? No, that's not true: While the photo is real it was first shared to X on June 14, 2021, following a chemical plant fire in Illinois. Nobody was killed at the time of that fire.
The claim appeared in a post on Facebook on December 9, 2024, (archived here) with a caption that read:
x BRะAKING NEVVS! Horrific accident. At least 135 people have died after a truck collided with a bus!๐๐๐ญ๐๐ก ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐๐จ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ ๐
Here is how the post looked at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken Tue Dec 10 10:19:12 2024 UTC)
The photograph shared in the post on X was initially captured on June 14, 2021. It showed a chemical fire in Rockton, Illinois, where nobody died. A local reporter published the photo and two others to X at the time.
This was determined through a reverse image search (archived here), which returned a Russian news report (archived here) identifying the photo as showing a fire at the Chemtool Inc. chemical plant in Rockton, Illinois, on June 14, 2021.
The article cited an NBC report (archived here) published that same day that included an embedded post (archived here) shared to X by Maggie Polsean, a local news anchor in Rockford, Illinois, roughly 15 miles from Rockton.
Polsean's post included the photo shared to Facebook in December 2024 plus two others. The caption was:
As I have been on scene, the building has slowly become engulfed in flames. The west side of the building has begun to crumble.
Below is a live embed of Polsean's 2021 post:
As I have been on scene, the building has slowly become engulfed in flames. The west side of the building has begun to crumble. pic.twitter.com/0NPd2DsQxY
-- Maggie Polsean (@MaggieRaeRose) June 14, 2021
Shown below is a screenshot of Polsean's post as it appeared in the June 15, 2021, post:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Tue Dec 10 17:40:45โฏ2024 UTC)
A police report (archived here) published at the time noted that the fire occurred within a one-mile radius of 1165 Prairie Hill Road in Rockton, Illinois.
On June 15, 2021, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board issued a notice (archived here) about the Chemtool Inc. fire, noting that "all 70 workers in the facility were evacuated without injury." The agency reported that one firefighter suffered a minor injury.
A link was included in the comments section of the post that is the focus of this debunk. When clicked, the link redirected users to an article (archived here) meant to mimic a news report. The details in the supposed article did not match those in the post on Facebook, and the author provided no further information to confirm its reporting.
Here is a screenshot of how that article appeared at the time of this writing:
(Source: claninov.co.uk screenshot taken Tue Dec 10 16:09:50 2024 UTC)
Read More
Other Lead Stories fact checks involving Illinois can be read here.
