Subscribe to our WhatsApp Channel
AI-generated content that highlights sensitive issues and captures public attention is often shared on social media. Below is our fact check of one such video.
Social Media Posts:
Social media users expressed doubts about whether the video in question was authentic and commented as follows.
The short video that has gone viral on the internet, raising questions about whether it is real or AI-generated, was specifically mentioned on some Indian news channels as follows.
We took steps to verify its accuracy.
Fact Check:
The video shows a child standing near a railway track, and a cow approaches the child just before a moving train passes, protecting and saving the child.
Although some users have commented that the video was broadcast on Hiru News on 18.04.2026, no such video was seen in Hiru’s noon news broadcast that day (18). The full news broadcast can be seen here.
A video showing several unnatural situations
Upon closer inspection of the video, we noticed several anomalies that seemed unnatural and could not have occurred in real life.
The cow tries to push the child off the track, and the child suddenly appears at the cow’s feet, creating an unnatural sequence in the subsequent scenes.
When a train moves, it creates strong air pressure around it, which can produce wind. The train in the video is only a few inches away from the child and the cow, but the child’s clothes and hair, as well as the cow, do not appear to be affected by any wind caused by air pressure.
The video also shows a scene where the train tracks split into another track, and the angle is different from the angle typically seen at track switches.
A video generated through artificial intelligence
We ran the video’s keyframes through multiple AI content detection tools. The results consistently indicated a high likelihood that the clip was AI-generated, rather than an authentic recording. This supports the visual anomalies observed in the footage and strengthens the conclusion that the viral video is not real.
Join us to learn about our fact-finding efforts
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Google News | TikTok
Conclusion:
Our investigation found that the viral video showing a cow near a small child by a railway track as an express train passes was created using artificial intelligence, rather than recorded in real life. Several elements in the clip appear inconsistent with real-world conditions, and an AI-content detection tool indicated a high likelihood that the footage is synthetically generated. Based on these findings, the claim is false and the video should be treated as AI-generated content rather than a real incident.
Title: Was a child saved by a cow near a railway line as a train passed?
Fact Check By: Pavithra Hansani
Result: False
