Old and unrelated visuals are passed off as recent airstrikes on Abu Dhabi - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 20, 2022
In the light of the recent airstrikes on Abu Dhabi by Houthi rebels, few videos (here, here, here & here) are being shared on social media platforms claiming these visuals show the recent airstrike. Through this article, let’s fact-check the veracity of these videos.
Claim: Videos of recent airstrikes on Abu Dhabi.
Fact: It is true that Houthi rebels carried out airstrikes on Abu Dhabi recently. However, the viral visuals are not related to the recent incident. While most of the visuals are related to a fire accident caused in a supermarket back in 2015 and 2020 in Saudi Arabia, one video is related to airstrike carried by Houthi rebels on Abu Dhabi in 2019. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
It is true that airstrikes were carried out on Abu Dhabi recently by Houthi rebels through drones and missiles. In retaliation, the Saudi led coalition also carried out airstrikes targeting Houthi rebels. However, the viral visuals shared through the posts are not related to the recent incident. The original context of each video shared through posts is explained below.
Video 1:
These visuals actually show an incident of a fire accident, wherein fire broke out in a supermarket’s warehouse in the Mussafah Industrial area in Abu Dhabi, back in November 2015. Reverse image search of the viral visuals led us to a tweet by an Arabic news agency that reported similar visuals.
6 injured in #AbuDhabi supermarket warehouse fire – https://t.co/NS3STGjmRd (clip via @moiuae) pic.twitter.com/CjPaJXTj5U
News articles which reported the same visuals attributing them to supermarket fire accident can be read here and here.
Video 2:
The viral video carries the logo of RT, a Russian state-owned news agency. Taking a cue from this, internet search with relevant keywords yielded the actual footage of this report. RT reported these visuals in August 2020, and as per the report, these visuals are related to an incident of fire break out in Ajman market in UAE. News article which reported the incident can be read here.
Video 3:
Even these visuals are related to the above-mentioned fire accident in August 2020 in Ajman market in Abu Dhabi. Reverse image search of the viral visuals yielded multiple news articles which reported the same visuals. As per these reports, these visuals are also related to the fire breakout at Ajman market.
Other news articles which reported these visuals back then can be viewed here and here.
Video 4:
These visuals show airstrikes carried by Houthi rebels on Saudi Arabia’s Abha airport back in June 2019. Reverse image search of the visuals led us to a news report which reported the same visuals. Another news report which reported the same visuals of the attack can be viewed here.
To sum it up, old and unrelated visuals are passed off as recent airstrikes in Abu Dhabi.