This video of a giant Christmas tree accidentally catching fire in China is being falsely shared as an act carried out by Islamic radicals in the UK

A video (here, here, here and here) of a giant Christmas tree burning inside a mall is going viral on social media with the claim that it was set on fire by Islamic radicals in the United Kingdom. Let’s examine the truth behind this claim.

The archived post can be found here.

Claim: The viral video shows Islamic radicals setting fire to a giant Christmas tree inside a mall in the United Kingdom.

Fact: The video is not from the UK. It shows a giant Christmas tree catching fire at Sanli Plaza in Chengdu, China, in December 2024. Media reports confirmed that the fire was accidental, caused by an electrical short circuit, and not linked to any Islamist or jihadist group. Hence, the claim is FALSE.

To verify the claim, we conducted a reverse image search on Google, which led us to the same video uploaded with the caption “Christmas Tree Catches Fire in a Mall of China.”

Further, we conducted a keyword search on Google, which led us to several reports from both international and Chinese local media published in December 2024, featuring stills and videos of the same incident (here, here, here and here). According to these reports, in December, a 10-metre-tall giant Christmas tree at Sanli Plaza in Chengdu, China, caught fire and was quickly engulfed in flames, with thick smoke filling the area. Several people rushed in with fire extinguishers and managed to put out the blaze within minutes. No injuries were reported, though the tree was reduced to a burnt skeleton and the losses were estimated to be several thousand yuan.

To determine the cause of the fire, we reviewed reports from Chinese media outlets (here and here). Initial reports suggested that the blaze may have been triggered by a discarded cigarette butt. However, subsequent reports published after the investigation stated that the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit. This confirms that the incident was accidental in nature and not caused by any jihadist act.

Additionally, we conducted a keyword search to verify whether any such incident occurred in the UK, as claimed. This search did not produce any credible reports supporting the allegation.

To sum up, this video of a giant Christmas tree catching fire in China is being falsely shared as an Islamist attack in the UK.