Fact Check: Video from Philippines falsely passed off as burning library in France
The video showed a post office burning in Manila, Philippines.
By Md Mahfooz Alam Published on 7 July 2023 2:29 PM GMT
Screengrab of the Twitter post
(Courtesy: Twitter/@gautam21ajit)Hyderabad: A video showing a massive building engulfed in flames is going viral on social media. Users claim that the video shows Alcazar Library in Marseille being torched during the recent riots in France.
A Twitter user shared the video with the caption, “Marseille library on fire, the French police chief said "these are not riots for police, it's war". if this is not jihad what is it, They will burn down your knowledge and education and livelihood. They have done this before and will do it till they establish Sharia #FrenchRiots. (sic)”
(Courtesy: Twitter/@gautam21ajit)
Another Twitter user shared the same video claiming the same.
(Courtesy: Twitter/@VvcWatch)
The news outlet La Provence on June 30 reported that the entrance of Alcazar Library on Cours Belsunce in Marseille was vandalised during the riots.
Fact Check
A NewsMeter investigation found that the video showed a post office burning in Manila, Philippines.
On performing a reverse on the keyframes of the video, we found a video report by the Guardian News published on May 22. The video showed a massive fire in the same building as seen in the viral video.
As per the description, the video is about a massive fire that tore down the historic post office building in the Philippines capital, Manila. It also said that the fire had started in the basement of the building and quickly engulfed the whole building.
On May 22, Sky News also published a video report titled, “Massive fire tears through the 100-year-old post office in Manila in the Philippines.” This video also shows visuals similar to the viral video.
CNN reported the incident on May 22 in a report titled “Inferno tears through Manila’s historic Central Post Office.” It carried several images which match the visual of the viral video.
Here is the comparison of an image from CCN with a frame of the viral video.
Hence, we conclude that the viral video does not show the burning of the Alcazar Library in Marseille, France. The claim is false.
