Clip of truck hitting teen in Indonesia misrepresented as 'Bangladeshi driver resisting extortion'

A graphic video of a person being run over by a truck was filmed in Indonesia, contrary to posts claiming it showed the driver resisting an extortion attempt in Bangladesh. According to Indonesian news reports from July 2021, the teenager had been attempting a dangerous TikTok challenge and died from his injuries.

"I salute this patriotic and brave driver for killing even one extortionist. I appeal to all the drivers of the country to raze the extortionists in this way." reads part of the Bengali-language caption of a graphic Facebook video posted on July 4, 2025. 

Viewed more than 740,000 times, the video appears to show a person standing in the middle of the road attempting to stop an oncoming truck with their hands. The truck, however, does not stop and runs over the individual.

The same clip was also shared in similar Facebook posts in Bangladesh, where -- according to a task force formed by the interim government -- extortion is deeply entrenched (archived link).

There were nationwide protests on July 11 following the murder of a local scrap trader, reportedly because he refused to pay extortion money (archived link).

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, seen as the election frontrunner in polls scheduled for April 2026, has also started taking steps to weed out members allegedly involved in crimes ranging from extortion to rape and murder (archived here and here).

The video circulating online, however, was not filmed in Bangladesh.

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to an Indonesian-language news report that included a still from the clip (archived link).

The report by local media organisation Warta Kota, published on July 13, 2021, said the incident involved a teenager who sustained serious injuries and it occurred on RE Martadinata Street, in the North Cikarang district of Bekasi Regency (archived link).

A subsequent report by the Pos Kota newspaper on July 14, which also contained a screenshot from the video, said the teenager succumbed to his injuries (archived link).

According to news outlet Tempo, the group of teens were doing a TikTok challenge dubbed "the grim reaper prank" (archived link). The report said the group had earlier filmed several similar videos before the deadly incident.

Elements visible in the falsely shared video, including lamp posts and roadside plant pots, also correspond to Google Street View imagery of RE Martadinata Street (archived link).

AFP has debunked other posts that falsely presented clips as having been filmed in Bangladesh here and here.