Fake mother-son photo goes viral as it depicts story of love and resilience during Jabalpur cruise tragedy

The Slate Bureau

Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh: The recovery of bodies of a woman and her 4-year-old son in an everlasting embrace from the sunken ill-fated cruise boat that capsized in river Narmada in Madhya Pradesh touched millions of hearts across the world but the photo which would remain etched in memory as the face of the tragedy is fake.

The viral photo of a woman and a baby boy in a tight embrace has been generated using Artificial Intelligence tools to picturize the captivating story of love and resilience in the last minutes of their lives. 

The Collector of Jabalpur in a post on X clarified that the photo had no connection with the mishap in Jabalpur's Bargi Dam on Narmada. "This photo is AI-generated or from other source. It has no connection with the Bargi cruise accident," the Collector posted on his official X handle along with the photo

The AI-generated photo beats the watercolour painting by E B Lewis on the cover page of Gabrielle Emanuel's 'The Everlasting Embrace' when it comes to depicting the bond between a mother and her child.

The tragedy has claimed 9 lives while 4 people, including three children, are still missing and a search is on.

 The image was generated after the rescue team recovered the body of a woman with her son in her life jacket. The original photo is as chilling and is not being posted by The Slate in terms of its editorial policy. 

The diving team briefed media about the difficulties being encountered in the rescue operation. A diver, while taking about the problems being encountered in getting inside the sunken boat, could not conceal emotions and revealed that finding the mother-child duo in a tight embrace was deeply moving. 

The cruise boat capsized in Bargi Dam in Jabalpur district following a sudden storm on Thursday.

The state government has ordered a probe into the incident. Meanwhile, three crew members have been dismissed after survivors alleged negligence and safety lapses.

The cruise service was being operated  by the state government. The service has been suspended for now.