A dense column of smoke, the flames blazing violently, the crowd around observes the scene in astonishment. Once again an internal combustion vehicle caught fire, and once again someone didn’t miss an opportunity to claim it was electric. This time the object of the disinformation is a bus engulfed in flames in Barcelona on May 28th.
For those in a hurry:
- A bus caught fire on May 28th in Barcelona.
- On social media it is claimed that it was electric.
- In reality, the bus was diesel-powered, as confirmed by the company that operates it.
Analyses
Let’s see a screenshot of one of the posts being verified (here is another one). The description reads:
BARCELONA, ELECTRIC BUS…
A video subtitled in Spanish is also shared with the following comment in Italian:
The fight against global warming (electric bus, Barcelona). Cows heat the planet and should be abolished. Instead these are the intelligent solutions of the Greeks.
It was a diesel bus
The Moventis brand is clearly visible on the vehicle, a company active in north-eastern Spain and part of the Moventia group. The latter confirmed to his colleagues Verified that the fire, which broke out in front of the former bullring Monumental in Barcelona involved a diesel and non-electric bus. In fact, none of the vehicles covering that line – the 11.1, from Matarò, a coastal city north of the Catalan capital, to Barcelona – is electric. And there is a precise reason, explains the company: «It is very rare for suburban buses to be electric. Electric or hybrid models are more widespread in urban fleets, for reasons of limited autonomy.”
Conclusions
Once again a fire in an internal combustion vehicle is passed off as a fire in an electric vehicle. However, the company that operates the line denied the case of the Barcelona bus.
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