Fabricated China 'plane crash' posts share unrelated fire video

"On September 9, 2024, a flight from Dalian to Beijing in China crashed," read a traditional Chinese X post shared on September 10.

The post claimed the plane crashed in a residential area and caused a huge blaze, but that social media posts about the disaster were censored by Chinese authorities.

The accompanying nine-second clip shows clouds of grey smoke rising from between two blocks of buildings.

A woman speaking in a northeastern Chinese accent can be heard saying: "I've never seen a fire this big before".

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Screenshot of the false X post, captured on September 19, 2024

The video was shared in similar posts on YouTube, X and Facebook.

While Chinese state media reported that an Air China flight from Dalian to Beijing turned back due to mechanical issues on September 9, there were no credible reports of a plane crash that day (archived link).

Flight CA8903's return to Dalian was visible on a flight tracker by travel site Ctrip.

Warehouse fire

Keyword searches on Google found a report by Chinese state-owned media Xiaoxiang Morning Herald on September 9 about a fire near the Sweetland Tourist Resort in Dalian (archived link).

The report featured similar images of the blaze and quoted the local fire department which said it started in an abandoned warehouse.

No casualties were reported and the cause of the fire was under investigation, the report said.

Below is a screenshot of the video in the false posts (left) and a similar image of the fire published by the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald (right):

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Screenshot of the video in the false posts (left) and a similar image of the fire published by the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald (right)

A similar image of the blaze was published by Hubei-based news site Jimu News (archived link).