Fact Check: India strikes Karachi Port? No, the video shows blast at an Iranian port

Hyderabad: Drone footage of a port with scattered containers, smoke, and fire engines dousing flames is circulating widely on social media, with claims that it shows large-scale devastation at Pakistan’s Karachi Port caused by an Indian strike.

An X user, @nagendr_24, shared the video along with three images — two screenshots from the footage and a third showing a purported post by the Karachi Port Trust (KPT), which claimed the port was damaged in an Indian attack.

The alleged @official_kpt post read: “Karachi Port has sustained heavy damage following a strike by India, resulting in unacceptable loss of property. Emergency response efforts are underway. Updates on restoration will be provided regularly. We stand resilient. #IndianNavyAction #IndiaPakistanWar #KarachiPort.” The timestamp on the post was 11:43 AM, 9 May.

The caption on the X post stated: “Verified drone footage from Balochistan confirms large-scale devastation at #KarachiPort — a blow now officially acknowledged by the Karachi Port Authority. Precision of #IndianNavyAction leaves no room for denial. #IndiaPakistanWar #IndianArmy #JaiHind #OperationSindhoor.” (Archive)

Similar posts making the same claim can be found here (Archive 1: https://archive.ph/SkVrT) and here (Archive 2: https://archive.ph/jxivW).

NewsMeter found that the viral claim is false. The video does not show an Indian strike on Karachi Port. It shows a blast at Iran’s Shahid Rajaee Port on 26 April.

We checked the @official_kpt X account and found no such post as shown in the screenshot.

In fact, in a post made on 9 May, Karachi Port Trust claimed that its account had been hacked and the earlier post confirming a strike on the port was false.

The post read: “Press Release… KPT’s official Twitter account hacked by India… This is to state that India has released fake news from the official Twitter/X account of KPT. It is clarified that KPT’s official X/Twitter account was hacked. Please reconfirm the news from KPT PR before showing on media.” (Archive)

A video of ongoing port operations was also shared with the caption: “Port operations in full swing — 9th May 2025.”

Using reverse image search on keyframes from the viral video, we found an X post dated 28 April, which said: “Drone close-up footage from aftermath of Iran port blast released by an IRGC-linked outlet.” (Archive)

The video carries the watermark ‘noghtezan_info.’ A keyword search led us to an Instagram account that had shared the viral video on the same day, captioned: “Exclusive clip from the epicentre of the explosions in Shahid Rajaee Port” (translated from Persian).

Following this lead, we found a report by The Guardian dated 26 April titled, “Huge explosion in Iranian port kills at least 18 and injures more than 700,” which reported a massive blast at Iran’s southern Shahid Rajaee Port.

A BBC report on 27 April, titled “Huge blast at key Iranian port kills 28 and injures 800,” said the explosion likely resulted from a fire that broke out in a hazmat and chemical materials storage depot.

In summary, the viral video does not show the aftermath of India striking Pakistan’s Karachi Port. It shows the destruction caused by a massive blast at Iran’s Shahid Rajaee Port on 26 April.

Therefore, NewsMeter concludes that the viral claim is false.