Fact Check: Video of building in flames is from UAE, not France

A video showing a building engulfed in fire is circulating on social media. Users claim Muslim rioters have set the building on fire amid riots in France.

A Facebook user shared the video with the caption, “Media shutdown, complete censorship in France and ban on all reporting. Every building is being set on fire by Muslim rioters, shops are being looted. But I want to know, will this tower collapse like the World Trade Center Towers of 9/11?”

The video has also been shared on Twitter claiming the same. (Click here and here to see the post.)

Fact Check

NewsMeter investigation found that the video is from Ajman, United States of Emirates (UAE).

Using InVid, we extracted keyframes of the video and performed a reverse image search. The search led us to a report by Khaleej Times, titled “Video: Fire in a residential building in UAE destroys 64 apartments, 10 vehicles,” dated June 27. It carried a still from the video.

As per the report, a massive fire had broken out in a residential building in Tower 02 of the Ajman One complex. It also mentioned that no injuries were reported. Civil defence and police teams were able to control and extinguish the fire that engulfed one part of the residential building.

On June 27, The Telegraph published a video that shows frames similar to the viral video. As per the description, A high-rise building in the UAE was gutted by fire, which saw huge flames illuminating the night sky.

On Instagram and Twitter, ‏Ajman police shared another video showing the fire being extinguished.

Reuters also reported the incident on June 27 in a report titled “Massive blaze engulfs UAE residential tower.”

Hence, we conclude that the viral video is from UAE, not France.