Video of Fire in UAE Peddled As Riot Footage From France

A video showing a skyscraper engulfed in fire in UAE's Ajman Tower is being shared online with the false claim that it was set ablaze by Muslim rioters in France after the death of Nahel M, shot by French traffic police for not stopping at a signal.

BOOM found that the video is from a fire that broke out in UAE's Ajman Towers and has no connection to the protests in France.

After almost a week of riots in the country, the condition in France seems to be settling as President Macron will meet leaders of the parliament on July 4 to discuss the situation. Protests that led to vandalism, riots, and unrest in several cities of France began after 17-year-old Nahel M, a teenager from Nanterre was shot dead by the police at a traffic stop. The killing has raised questions about reviewing the rules on gun usage by the French police at checkpoints.

Amid this, a video of the burning skyscraper is being shared to claim that it was taken during the riots in France. One caption, while blaming Muslim protestors, reads, "Alerts In France🇫🇷 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?"

Click here to view the tweet and here for an archive.

Click here to view the post and here for an archive.

FACT-CHECK

BOOM found that the video is from the recent fire at UAE's Ajman Tower which broke out on June 27.

A reverse image search of some key frames from the video led us to several TikTok posts indicating that the fire took place at Ajman Tower in UAE. (see here and here).

According to Khaleej Times, a fire broke out in Tower 2 of Ajman One, a residential complex located in Al Rashidiya, Dubai. 64 apartments and 10 vehicles were damaged as a result of this fire, the reporter further informed. Lieutenant Colonel Ghaith Khalifa Al Kaabi, Director of Al Madina Comprehensive Police Station at Ajman Police informed that 256 residents had been displaced, and measures were taken to relocate them to hotels.

Ajman Police also shared a clip of their rescue operation at the tower on Tuesday, June 27.

A similar video by The Telegraph was uploaded on their YouTube channel on June 27. Watch here.

Here is a comparison between the viral video and the video posted by Ajman police.

We also looked at the street view of Ajman One Tower 2 on Google Maps and found that it matched the visuals in the viral video.

Click here to view.

This is not the first time that a building in the Ajman One complex has caught fire. In 2016, towers 6 to 8 of the complex saw a similar fire that experts attributed to a flammable substance in the panels used to cover the building, called aluminium composite panel.