Unrelated Video Of Pilgrims Sleeping In The Open Falsely Linked To Morocco Quake
BOOM found that the viral video is from the Catholic festival - World Youth Day (WYD) which was organised in Lisbon, Portugal in August 2023.
A video of pilgrims sleeping out in the open during a Catholic festival that was held in Lisbon, Portugal in August 2023 is being shared with the false claim that it is from Morocco after the deadly earthquake that hit the country.
The powerful 6.8-magnitude quake struck Morocco late on September 8, 2023, and is reported to be the deadliest to hit the country in decades with the current death toll of more than 2,900 people according to CBS News.
In the 15-second video, people are sleeping out in the open on the ground with several tents being put up. The video is being shared on Facebook with the caption, "Subhanallah this is really touching. Ta Allah! Protect the people of Morocco and forgive the dead ones. Ameen"
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The same video is being shared on X (formerly called Twitter) with the same false claim.
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral video is from Lisbon, Portugal of pilgrims sleeping out in the open during the World Youth Day 2023 - a Catholic festival that was held from August 1 to August 6, 2023. The video also predates the earthquake that struck Morocco on September 6, 2023.
Taking a hint form the video, like the visuals looked like it was from an open ground and the replies to the viral post stating that it is from the World Youth Day festival, we ran a keyword search which showed that the viral video was from the Catholic festival that was held in Lisbon, Portugal.
The same video was posted on Instagram by the user Solo Catecumenos with the hagtags relating to the religious festival. This was posted on August 6, 2023, pre-dating the Morocco earthquake.
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The same video was also posted on YouTube by the same user - Solo Catecumenos with the caption when translated from Spanish to English reads, "This is how the million and a half young people spent the night in #Lisbon #Lisbon2023 #JMJ2023"
The same Instagram user also posted several other videos from the festival.
We also found similar visuals of pilgrims sleeping out in the open during the festival that were posted on X. These visuals also match the background seen in the viral video.
Pope Francis had also addressed the pilgrims at World Youth Day 2023 via video message that was held in the first week of August in Lisbon, Portugal. The previous World Youth Day was held in 2019 in Panama City, Panama and the next one will be held in Seoul, South Korea in 2027.
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