Fact Check: No Fatalities Reported in Guadeloupe Christmas Event Crash

Local authorities in Guadeloupe have forcefully refuted viral claims that 10 people died when a car crashed into a crowd during a Christmas event, confirming to Reuters that the widely shared death toll is “completely false.”

The incident, which occurred in the Sainte-Anne commune of the French Caribbean territory, resulted in 19 injuries but no fatalities, according to Jean-François Moniotte, Sub-prefect of Pointe-à-Pitre. Three people were initially in critical condition but were later reported to be stable.

Despite the official clarification, false information about the crash spread rapidly across social media and news outlets. British anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson shared the erroneous death toll in an X post that was subsequently reposted by Elon Musk, accumulating over 80 million views. Several prominent Indian news organizations, including The Indian Express, Daily Jagran, Hindustan Times, Telangana Today, Odisha Bytes, and the International Business Times, all incorrectly reported 10 deaths in their coverage.

The rapid spread of misinformation appears to have stemmed partly from mistranslation issues. A headline from local media outlet RCI Guadeloupe that read “Grave accident à Sainte-Anne: une dizaine de victimes fauchées” (meaning “Serious accident in Saint-Anne: about 10 people mown down”) was incorrectly translated by online tools, which replaced “mown down” with “killed.”

Anna Gouttenoire, head of the interministerial communications service at the prefecture of Guadeloupe, confirmed in an email to Reuters that the claim of 10 deaths was entirely false. RCI Guadeloupe itself later published a report describing the death toll claim as “fake news.”

While Robinson eventually published a correction to his original post on December 8, citing his reliance on The Indian Express’s reporting, neither his original post nor Musk’s repost had been deleted at the time of Reuters’ fact check.

Several of the news outlets have since updated their reports to remove references to fatalities. The Indian Express modified its headline to read “Several injured as vehicle rams into crowd in Sainte-Anne,” and Hindustan Times removed any mention of deaths in its updated report on December 9.

A Google spokesperson acknowledged the translation challenge, noting that while Google Translate effectively handles standard communication, “the subtle nuances of puns, idioms, and cultural context remain a sophisticated challenge.”

This incident highlights the dangers of rapid information sharing without proper verification, especially when language barriers and automated translation services may contribute to misinterpretations with potentially harmful consequences.