We are clearly living in the age of Fake News where anything and everything becomes a viral news in a matter of few minutes. Hence, publications must always check, in fact double check before posting anything that is going to be consumed by hundreds and thousands of viewers, which leading media website TOI clearly did not do when they posted a viral video of a girl bungee jumping claiming the trainer to have forgotten to hook the string causing her death! Now this video is fake and in fact was recently busted after it was going viral on WhatsApp for months. When The Times of India shared a ten-second video titled ‘On cam: Girl’s bungee jump goes horribly wrong?’ it led many including us to believe that it happened for real, however, the reality is far from it.

Bungee jumping is one of the most spectacular and gravity challenging sport that requires bravery, physician and mental strength and of course will power. Participants jump from a height of may be hundreds of metres who are secured with a bungee cord attached to the ankle. Bungee cord is the most important equipment in this adventure. Over the time, there has been some ultimate cases of ignorance which has risked many people’s life. However, the video posted by TOI was not another of such horrifying incident.

As per the reporting - a bungee jumping went horribly wrong. Reason? Apparently, the girl's trainer forgot to hook the string and realised after she jumped off the platform. According to the media portal, the scary incident was captured in a video, which they posted on their social media pages, Facebook. It had over 2000 shares but after realising their folly, they have pulled it down.  In reality, a bungee jumping without a rope never took place and merely a work of alternate angle and trick of camera. There are several such videos available on YouTube, simply do a Google search 'bungee jump without rope.'

Watch the full video of 'Bungee jumping Without Rope'

Many travel experts have claimed that the risk factor in this sport is comparatively less, ‘one in five hundred thousand,’ meaning they are very rare, but it can happen. Both the participants and trainers have to be very conscious to avoid any risk.

Several such mishaps took place earlier at several sites and it has been caught on camera. Last year too, a bungee jumper in South America was reported to crash into a shallow river while the stunt went horrifically wrong. It was told that the rope she used for the jump was too long. The lady survived with several injuries. No matter how daredevil it may look, such activities are risky and should be done in a more careful way. But it looks like the real problem we are dealing with is about false reporting where there's no dearth of fake news!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 15, 2018 01:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).