Video shows fire at Philippine post office building, not France's largest library engulfed in flames

Published on July 14, 2023 at 11:09
Updated on July 18, 2023 at 03:29
3 min read
By Sophia KONG, AFP Hong Kong, AFP Colombia

A clip of a building on fire has been shared in social media posts worldwide that falsely say it shows France's largest library "burned down by a mob". The footage surfaced as hundreds of buildings were torched or damaged during unrest across the European nation triggered by the police's fatal shooting of a teenager in June 2023. The video, however, shows a fire that engulfed the historic Manila Central Post Office in the Philippine capital in May 2023.

"France's largest library burned down by a mob," reads the simplified-Chinese caption to a video posted on Twitter here on July 5.

The video, which has been shared more than 350 times, shows aerial footage of smoke billowing from a neo-classical building while orange flames glow inside it.

The caption appears to be referencing rioters who took to the streets after the killing of a 17-year-old of Algerian origin by a police officer at a traffic stop on June 27.

The shooting revived longstanding complaints about police brutality and racism in deprived areas of the country. The outpouring of anger has seen over 1,100 buildings torched or damaged.

Screenshot of the false tweet, captured on July 11, 2023

The same video was also shared hundreds of times in similar Chinese-language posts on Twitter, Douyin, Weibo and Gettr.

Similar claims were also shared in English, Polish and Spanish.

But AFP found no official reports as of July 14 that the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) or its extensive collection had been damaged during protests in Paris.

A representative told AFP on July 17: "The BnF suffered no damage at all during the recent protests."

Local media reported the Alcazar library in Marseille had been targeted, but Marseille's City Hall told AFP on July 7 there was no fire there and no books were damaged (archived links here and here).

It added that the library reopened on July 4, and no other libraries in the city were affected.

Manila fire

A reverse image search of the video's keyframes on Google led to reports showing similar clips of a fire that engulfed the historic Manila Central Post Office in May.

One similar clip showing the building on fire was published on the verified YouTube channel of Guardian News here (archived link).

The video, published on May 22, is titled, "Huge fire rips through historic post office building in Manila".

Below is a screenshot comparison between the video used in the false tweet (left) and the Guardian's YouTube video (right):

It took firefighters more than seven hours to get the inferno under control, reported AFP, which also published photos and video of the fire (archived links here and here).

Firefighters douse a fire at the Post Office building in Manila on May 22, 2023 ( AFP / STR)

A separate building with a blue signboard can be seen at the eight-second mark of the video falsely shared on Twitter. This building corresponds to the Overseas Filipino Bank near the post office, visible on Google Street View imagery here (archived link).

The Philippine Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) ruled the fire at the historic building had been caused by the sudden explosion of a car battery in a storage room, according to a statement posted by the Philippine Postal Corporation (archived link).

The statement said the fire was "purely accidental in nature and (the BFP) declared that the investigation is considered closed and solved".

AFP has previously debunked false claims linking unrelated photos and videos to the unrest in France here and here.

July 18, 2023 Updated to add comment from the Bibliothèque nationale de France

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