Fact Check: Video of a hostel being set on fire in Bangladesh is old
In its investigation, Vishvas News discovered that the viral claim was misleading. This video is from Bangladesh where a commercial building caught fire about five months ago. The old video is being circulated by linking it to the current situation in Bangladesh.
- By: Umam Noor
- Published: Jul 29, 2024 at 04:48 PM
New Delhi Vishvas News – A video is going viral on social media showing a building on fire. The video is being shared with claims that it depicts a hostel of protesting students in Bangladesh being burnt, linking it to the current situation in Bangladesh.
In its investigation, Vishvas News discovered that the viral claim was misleading. This video is from Bangladesh and shows a commercial building catching fire about five months old. The old video is being circulated falsely by linking it to the current situation in Bangladesh.
What is in the viral post?
Sharing the viral video, a Facebook user wrote, “Dhaka: Hasina Wajid’s goons are now burning students alive. Bengali police started burning students’ hostels.” View the archived version of the post here.
Investigation:
We started our investigation by searching the keyframes of the viral video through Google Lens. In the search, we found this video uploaded on many news websites and YouTube channels. According to the information provided with the video uploaded on March 1, 2024, on the verified YouTube channel ‘On Demand News’, this video is from an incident where a six-storey building caught fire in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Based on this information, we started searching for the video and found related news to this matter published on February 29, 2024, on the Dhaka Post’s website. According to the information provided, a fire has been reported at Kuchibhai Restaurant located on Bailey Road in Dhaka and the rescue workers were trying to evacuate people safely. This news included a video similar to the viral video.
Additionally, a report by Dhaka Tribune on the same matter revealed that two employees of Kuchibhai restaurant died in a fire that broke out in a seven-storey building located on Bailey Road. According to the restaurant manager Jasan, 25 employees were on duty at the time of the fire., and two of them died. He also claimed that the fire started from a tea shop named Chamok. You can read the full news here.
According to Al Jazeera’s news from March 1 2024, 45 people died in this building accident. To verify the authenticity of the viral video, we contacted Sajjad Hussain Chowdhury, a fact checker at Bangladesh’s Rumors Scanner, and shared the viral video with him. He confirmed, “This video is an old case from Dhaka, where a building caught fire.”
While scanning the Facebook of the user who shared the misleading post, we found that the user is from Pakistan.
Conclusion: In its investigation, Vishvas News discovered that the viral claim was misleading. This video is from Bangladesh where a commercial building caught fire about five months ago. The old video is being circulated by linking it to the current situation in Bangladesh.
- Claim Review : Hasina Wajid's goons are now burning students alive.
- Claimed By : Facebook User
- Fact Check : Misleading
Know the truth! If you have any doubts about any information or a rumor, do let us know!
Knowing the truth is your right. If you feel any information is doubtful and it can impact the society or nation, send it to us by any of the sources mentioned below.
