Fact Check: Viral Google Earth Image from Kumia Shows Livestock — Not Piles of Bodies

Verdict

Miscaptioned. The image circulating on Google Earth and social media shows animals gathered at a watering hole in Kumia, Sudan, not piles of human bodies. Independent verification by BBC, OSINT analysts and comparisons with historical imagery support this conclusion. Separately, verified satellite analyses have documented genuine atrocities elsewhere in Darfur.

What circulated

In early November 2025 a Google Earth image was widely shared online with the claim that it depicted dozens of dead bodies lying in pools of blood in Kumia. The post was shared across X, Reddit, Facebook and Threads and was framed as fresh evidence of mass killings.

Why this is incorrect

The disputed image (coordinates: 10°57'39"N, 26°24'52"E / 10.960833, 26.414444) appears in Google Maps/Earth imagery dated to March 2024 and is also visible in earlier imagery from March 2022. Careful visual analysis shows dozens of small, upright shapes clustered around a darker circular patch of ground — consistent with livestock at a watering site. Shadows cast by those shapes align with nearby structures and indicate four-legged animals standing, not human bodies lying flat.

Apple Maps aerial imagery of the same location also shows the figures as animals, and BBC Verify, analysts at the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, and independent OSINT investigators (including Benjamin Strick and Nathan Ruser) reached the same assessment: the objects are livestock at a watering hole, and the scene predates the social-media surge in November 2025.

Context — verified atrocities elsewhere

This miscaptioned photo should not be taken to invalidate other verified open-source and satellite investigations. After the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized El-Fasher, North Darfur, on Oct. 26, 2025, multiple organizations — including the United Nations, the ICC monitoring bodies, and Yale HRL — documented evidence consistent with mass killings and other abuses in and around El-Fasher during late October 2025.

Conclusion

The viral Google Earth image from Kumia is miscaptioned: it shows animals at a watering hole, not piles of human bodies. Independent verification and historical imagery corroborate this. At the same time, separate, authenticated satellite analyses have identified real atrocities in Darfur, and those findings should be evaluated on their own evidence and context.

Key sources and tools

• Coordinates reviewed: 10°57'39"N, 26°24'52"E (10.960833, 26.414444)
• Google Maps / Google Earth imagery (March 2024; earlier imagery March 2022)
• Apple Maps aerial imagery
• BBC Verify; Yale Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL); OSINT analysts Benjamin Strick and Nathan Ruser
• United Nations and ICC statements regarding El-Fasher, Oct. 2025

Note: Satellite images can be powerful evidence, but accurate interpretation requires baseline comparisons, shadow analysis and corroboration from other sources on the ground.