Lebanon warehouse explosion videos are mispresented as a Russian missile attack in the Ukraine port
Claim
The port of #Odessa, #Ukraine , was hit by four #Russian missiles that hit two #British cargo ships triggering a massive explosion. British ships were carrying high explosives to Ukraine!
Rating
Explanation
As the war between Ukraine and Russia has been going on for months, this video is going viral on social media that a British cargo ship exploded and a major accident occurred due to Russia’s attack on Odesa port in Ukraine. The 1-minute 55-second video shows a massive explosion happening among huge skyscraper buildings along the seaport which was recorded from a balcony of an apartment.
https://twitter.com/DrSharmila15/status/1692566061374468407?t=hlUQlzw5Qvk8Qe3eBCzVig&s=08
Doctor Sharmila has shared this on her X account claiming that Russia attacked Ukraine with missiles. This post went sensational with a huge 68.5k views and 111 reposts as of this writing. Come, let’s check the authenticity of the claims.
What’s the truth?
When we started our research using the keyframes, we came to know that the 1.55-minute video which is going viral, has footage of the explosion taken from various locations and combined together. At first, the scene taken from the apartment near the big building was changed to a gif frame and the reverse image was added. On August 9, 2020, the same video was released on YouTube namely “Al Arabiya English” with the title “Beirut explosion seen from the top of the building”.
During the Corona period in August 2020, according to WHO, when a warehouse containing 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded in the port area of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, 178 people died, 6,500 were seriously injured and 3 lakh people lost their homes.
The second portion of the video displaying ‘Maverick’s cafe bar’, was also taken at the same time as the Beirut crash. This video was posted on 5th August 2020 on Jack G. Issa’s X page.
https://twitter.com/Yaacoubissa/status/1290945819487739904?s=20
Additionally, video footage taken from the roadside and the seaside is also related to the Beirut explosion accident. This means videos taken from different parts and localities of the Beirut crash have been compiled and made into a new one with false claims. In other parts of the video, the scene of the explosion at the port is repeated in a loop.
Earlier, when Turkey and Syria experienced earthquakes, the Beirut explosion videos were mispresented with the rumor of a nuclear reactor explosion. Those scenes are also featured in the video that is now going viral. Thus, this is an old video from Lebanon showing the explosion of a warehouse.
Read More: Old and unrelated visuals are shared as recent earthquake from Turkey and Syria
Conclusion:
In our research, the video circulating showcasing the four Russian missiles hitting two British cargo ships in the port of Odesa, Ukraine, is false. It can be learned that these videos were taken in 2020 when an ammonium nitrate warehouse in the port of Beirut, Lebanon exploded.
Proof Links
