A montage of four different and unrelated videos is being shared with the false claim that it shows a truck tanker exploding in Dubai. BOOM found that the video is a montage of four different accidents which occurred in Italy, Cairo and Ajman.
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BOOM received the video on its WhatsApp helpline with the caption: "Dubai Tanker explosion"
Reader discretion advised: The article contains description of graphic images
The video has clips of four different accidents. The first shows a truck tanker smashing into the back of another truck catching fire. A huge explosion soon follows. The second clip shows cars on fire as a huge inferno rages in the background. The third clip shows a fire in a commercial building. The fourth clip is a video recording of a CCTV footage which shows people running away from an explosion which occurs off camera. Two people can be seen on fire and trying to escape.
Fact Check On Video Showing Dubai Tanker Explosion
First Clip
In the first clip, USA Today's logo can be seen on the top right. We performed a keyword search using "truck explosion USA Today" and found this video news story.
According to the report, the accident occurred in Italy killing two people and injuring 70.
We also found a BBC report which stated that the explosion occurred in Bologna and caused the bridge to collapse.
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Below is a screenshot comparison of the WhatsApp video (L) and the USA Today video (R).
Second Clip
The second clip, which shows cars on fire, had gone viral earlier as well with different claims.
The French fact-checking organisation AFP had debunked the same clip when it had gone viral in the aftermath of the Beirut blast.
AFP had then found that the clip was shot in a suburb of the Egyptian capital of Cairo on July 14, 2020 after a fire had broken out due to a leaking crude oil pipeline.
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Third Clip
BOOM broke down the WhatsApp video into key-frames using InVid's WeVerify tool and ran a reverse image search.
We found an August 5, 2020 news-report on a fire in a shopping centre in Ajman, UAE by UAE portal Erem News. Erem News cited the UAE-based English news organisation The National in their story.
We ran a keyword search on Google and found The National's report on the fire. The report carried a photo of firefighter fighting the fire which looked very similar to a frame from the WhatsApp video.
According to The National, the fire had broken out at a popular market near Ajman Speciality Hospital in the early hours of August 5.
Below is a screenshot comparison from the WhatsApp video (L) and the photo from The National (R)
Fourth Clip
We ran a reverse image search and found a February 28, 2019 tweet featuring the same clip. The clip was part of a Twitter thread about an accident at a train station in Cairo.
Taking a hint from this, we searched and found multiple news reports on the accident.
According to this Al Jazeera report, a train smashed into a barrier at Cairo's Ramses train station on February 27, 2019 causing a fire to break out. The accident killed at least 20 people and injured 50.
