Original article (in Slovenian) was published on 19/11/2024; Author: Eva Gračanin
LA Metro, the agency managing public transit infrastructure in the Los Angeles metro area, says the burning bus in the video ran on compressed natural gas.
On 1 November, a video of a burning vehicle was posted to the Facebook page Naše Velenje with the caption “Electric bus” and the location was designated as Naše Velenje, a tag used in other posts to denote events taking place in Velenje. By publication, the post had been shared by more than 1,700 users.
The site is managed by Naše Velenje, a political party with one councilor, Jože Hribar, on the Velenje City Council. The party has published several Facebook posts expressing doubt about or opposition to the green transition and electric vehicles.
In February this year, the fact-checking network EDMO, of which Oštro is a member, drew attention to fake posts about electric vehicles. Most commonly, such videos portray electric vehicles as highly flammable or explosive. Authors often use old or unrelated images and videos of various accidents and falsely claim they show fires or explosions of electric vehicles.
The EDMO pointed out that it is a misconception that electric vehicles are more susceptible to fire or explosion than vehicles with an internal combustion engine. Such incidents are rare and the likelihood of a fire in an electric vehicle is generally lower than in a car with a conventional engine.
The burning bus video was first posted by TikTok user erre55s, who currently has five videos on TikTok showing different parts of Los Angeles. The video which was uploaded by the Naše Velenje Facebook page is no longer available on this profile. It has also been shared by several YouTube users.
Several American media ran stories about a bus arson on 31 October. NBC Los Angeles reported that the fire was started by a crowd after the end of the final game of the World Series, the finals of the American baseball league, between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees.
The bus targeted by the fans was operated by LA Metro, an agency that plans, coordinates and manages public transit infrastructure in the Los Angeles metro area. LA Metro explained to Razkrinkavanje.si that the bus ran on compressed natural gas.
The Velenje Fire Brigade told Razkrinkavanje.si that they have not dealt with any bus fires in the municipality in the last month.
We have informed the Naše Velenje Facebook page of our findings. We will publish their reply when we receive it.
The claim that the footage shows an electric bus is false.
