The photos shared showing the Gampola bodies are NOT AI-generated!

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Following the disaster caused across Sri Lanka due to Cyclone Ditva, the number of disaster-related deaths has risen to 465 as of today (02). Another 366 individuals remain missing, while search, rescue, and recovery operations are continuing without interruption.

During this situation, photographs of bodies discovered after the disaster have been circulated widely on social media by some users. One such photo went viral, prompting many people to question its authenticity. This is our fact-check regarding that claim.

Social Media Posts :

A photograph widely circulated on social media claimed that bodies were found piled up after a landslide in the Gampola area.

Facebook | Archived Link

Many people commented saying the photo was not real, and that it had been generated using Artificial Intelligence (AI).

We also received several reader requests via WhatsApp asking us to verify the authenticity of the photo.

Therefore, we initiated a fact-check to determine the truth.

Fact-Check:

During the extreme weather situation caused by Cyclone Ditva in recent days, Sri Lankans faced severe natural disasters including overflowing rivers, flash floods, and landslides.

Amid this, some residents of the Gampola area lost their lives, and a photo claiming to show their bodies piled together was shared widely. Since social media users pointed out unnatural features in the image, many assumed it was AI-generated.

We examined the image using AI-detection tools, and the results clearly showed that the photo was NOT generated using AI.

Further investigation revealed that another image from the same incident had been shared on TikTok.

The individuals seen in the background of the first widely circulated photo can also be seen in the second image.

TikTok

Additionally, the person wearing a red-and-blue shirt in the photo had earlier posted a video showing houses behind the Gampola Keells supermarket submerged in flood. That video can be viewed here.

A social media post written in Tamil also reported this incident, and through that post, we were able to contact an eyewitness.

Eyewitness

According to Shiraz Hasan, one of the eyewitnesses we contacted, the photo was not AI-generated or digitally manipulated.

He stated that the bodies belonged to members of a single family who had been trapped inside their house and died due to flooding behind the Gampola Keells supermarket’s housing scheme.

The house belonged to a retired female police officer. Positioned on a lower slope, the home was overwhelmed when floodwaters rose. Although residents from the neighbouring three-storey house warned the family to move, they did not leave in time. After the waters receded, the bodies of five family members were found inside the home. The retired police officer’s body was not found at that moment. Their dog had also died.

The photo circulating online was taken when the bodies were brought out of the house, but it was later misinterpreted by many as an AI-generated image.

Another eyewitness, Fireez Mohamed who is visible in the viral photos, confirmed the same details. He said the family died due to the sudden flooding and the image was taken when their bodies were carried out.

Gampola Police OIC

To further confirm the incident, we contacted the Officer-in-Charge of the Gampola Police Station.

He confirmed that the family members who died were residents of the housing line behind Gampola Keells, and that the funeral took place yesterday (1).

The retired female police officer was among the deceased.

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Conclusion:

Our investigation confirms that the photo circulating on social media claiming to show AI-generated bodies from a Gampola landslide is NOT AI generated.

It is a real photograph showing the bodies of a single family who tragically died after being trapped in their home due to the flooding behind the Gampola Keells supermarket.