A shocking video showing a coal mining union leader setting himself ablaze to protest against the take over of Mongolia's coal mining sector by China, is being shared with the false claim that he is a government minister and took the drastic step after he failed to keep his promise to build one lakh low-income houses.
In the video we can see a man address a press conference and while talking, he sets himself ablaze. A 'Mail Online' logo can be spotted at the top left corner of the clip.
The video is being shared with the caption, "the Minister of Public Works in Mongolia promised to build 100,000 units of low income houses in one year. He said if he fails, he will set himself ablaze. At the end of the year, he built 70,000. So he considered himself a failure in Office. He then called a press conference during which he set himself ablaze."
BOOM has not included the video, due to its graphic nature.
The same video is also being shared on Facebook with the misleading claim.
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the man in the viral video is a Mangolian coal mining union leader who set himself ablaze during a press conference in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Taking a hint from 'mail online' logo on the top left of the video, we ran a targetted keyword search and found that the video is from November 2015, published by UK media outlet the Daily Mail on November 16, 2015, with the headline, "The horrifying moment a Mongolian union boss sets himself on FIRE to protest sale of country's coal mining industry"
The Daily Mail reported that the man in the video is a coal mining union leader who immolated himself during a press meet in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The same set of events can be seen in the video uploaded by The Daily Mail in its report.
The man who set himself ablaze during the press conference is S. Erdene, Chairman of the Board of Mongolian Solidarity Labor Union in Mongolia and had self-immolated protesting against the Chinese takeover of Mongolia's coal mining reported The Maravi Post.
The Daily Mail stated that before he set himself ablaze, the man was head saying, "The government no longer supports our company, families of the workers are forced to starve, this is why I will burn myself for the people of Mongolia and our children," after which he poured liquid on his suit before setting himself alight.
It further reported that after the incident, Erdene was rushed to Mongolia's National Trauma and Orthopedic Research Center, where he suffered burns to over 40% of his body.