Nepal flood viral video: Elephant ‘rescuing’ stranded man is not from Nepal, here's the truth
A video showing an elephant appearing to rescue a person surrounded by floodwaters has gone viral on social media amid the devastating Nepal floods. Several users on X have shared the clip claiming that elephants were saving people trapped by the floods in Nepal.
But the viral claim is false.
The video is not related to the August 26 Nepal flash floods and had been circulating online before the disaster, according to posts seeking to correct the misleading claim. One X user pointed out that the clip was “altogether a different incident” and was not connected to the Nepal floods.
The footage also carries Bangla media branding and has been linked to earlier footage from Assam involving a pet elephant and its owner, rather than a rescue during the current Nepal disaster. An assessment shared through Grok similarly flagged the Nepal connection as false, pointing to the Bangla logos and the video's earlier circulation.
The misleading posts gained traction as shocking visuals from the Nepal disaster began spreading online. The August 26 flash flood struck areas along the Nepal-Tibet border after a sudden surge of water entered the Bhote Koshi River from the Tibetan side, affecting Rasuwa and downstream areas. Search and rescue operations are continuing as authorities assess the scale of the destruction.
The flood swept through settlements, damaged bridges and roads and affected infrastructure along the river corridor. Reports also said hundreds of people were missing in the aftermath of the disaster.
Against this backdrop, the elephant video was shared as though it showed an extraordinary rescue taking place in flood-hit Nepal.
It does not.
Elephant incident in Uttar Pradesh is also being confused with the Nepal floods
There is, however, a separate elephant-related incident connected to the wider flooding situation.
On August 26, five wild elephants were reportedly swept along the Kaudiyala River in Uttar Pradesh after the Nepal flood situation caused rivers in the region to rise. The herd reached the Girija Barrage in Bahraich, where forest and irrigation officials acted to bring the animals to safety. All five elephants — three adults and two young ones — were reportedly rescued.
That incident may have added to the confusion online, but it is different from the viral video showing an elephant apparently helping a person in floodwater.
There have also been real instances of trained elephants being used during floods in Nepal. During the 2017 floods, elephants were used around Sauraha in Chitwan to help evacuate tourists stranded by rising floodwaters.
That older footage and the current elephant incident, however, should not be used to authenticate the viral clip now circulating as a Nepal flood rescue.