Old flooding photos resurface in monsoon-hit Pakistan

Landslides and floods triggered by heavier-than-usual monsoon rains have killed more than 850 people in Pakistan since June but five pictures supposedly depicting the situation in the most populated province Punjab are old. They have previously appeared in news reports about flooding in several parts of the South Asian nation in 2022.

"Oh Allah! Creator of the earth and the heavens, grant ease upon Your servants. Make this rain a source of life and mercy, not a calamity and affliction. Protect us from floods and trials and take us into Your refuge. Ameen," reads an Urdu-language X post shared August 29, 2025.

Among the caption's hashtags is "#LahoreFlood", referring to the capital city of Punjab province.

The post features an image of a man carrying a traditional bed with a child sitting on it, alongside a recent picture of two elderly people wading on floodwaters that according to Reuters news agency was filmed in Sindh province in August (archived link).

A separate photo compilation of people evacuating on boats was published on TikTok August 29, and also spread on Instagram.

Meanwhile, prominent local news outlet ARY News shared a view of a submerged neighbourhood in an X post on August 31 giving updates on the floods.

Monsoon rains have swelled three major rivers that cut through Punjab province, Pakistan's agricultural heartland and home to nearly half of its 255 million people (archived link).

The flooded rivers have affected mostly rural areas near their banks but heavy rain also flooded urban areas, including several parts of Lahore -- the country's second-largest city.

While South Asia's seasonal monsoon brings rainfall that farmers depend on, climate change is making the phenomenon more erratic, and deadly, across the region, and more than 850 people in Pakistan have died since June.

But reverse image and keyword searches found the circulating pictures are from 2022 monsoon rains that submerged a third of the country and killed at least 1,190 people (archived link).

The European Pressphoto Agency published the first picture showing a man wading through muddy floodwaters carrying a child on a traditional charpoy bed on August 30, 2022 (archived link).

Its caption says it shows people wading through a flooded area in the northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The second photo depicting a group of people carrying their belongings through floodwaters earlier appeared in a Reuters report on August 29, 2022 about the unfolding disaster at the time (archived link).

The photo of men in uniform evacuating people in a boat can be found in the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency's archive dated August 27, 2022 (archived link).

Its caption says it is a handout photo from the Pakistani military and shows soldiers helping with search and rescue operations in flood-hit areas of Pakistan that day.

An AFP photographer shot the photo of the baby carried off a boat on August 24, 2022, with a caption saying it shows residents arriving in a boat "after being evacuated following heavy monsoon rainfall in the flood affected area of Rajanpur district in Punjab province".

Finally, the picture of the flooded neighbourhood can also be found on AFP's archives. It was taken August 29, 2022 and shows a residential area in Balochistan province (archived link).

AFP has debunked other false claims about the recent floods in Pakistan here and here.