India factory fire footage misrepresented as Pakistan air strike

Published on May 29, 2025 at 07:06
4 min read
By Rimal FARRUKH, AFP Pakistan

Pakistan launched counterattacks against India in early May after three of its air bases were hit, but footage published in several news reports does not show one of the strikes. The video depicts a fire that erupted in the northwestern Indian city of Hanumangarh.

"Recent missile attacks have struck the Udhampur Airbase in Jammu and Kashmir. While Indian officials report limited damage and no operational losses, the incident underscores the escalating military tensions between India and Pakistan," reads the caption of a Facebook reel shared May 10 by Pakistani news outlet The Express Tribune.

The video, which has more than 3,000 engagements, shows large clouds of smoke billowing on the horizon. Fire trucks drive toward the fire as bystanders watch.

Other Pakistani news outlets have shared similar posts on their social media pages, racking up thousands of views.

Geo News published the video in a May 10 Instagram post, while Dawn News shared it on its verified YouTube channel. Social media users also shared the same video alongside similar claims thousands of times on X.

Screenshot of an Instagram post taken May 22, 2025

Pakistan launched counterattacks against India on May 10 after three of its air bases were struck overnight in an escalation of the conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours. Indian Wing Commander Vyomika Singh said the same day that there were "several high-speed missile attacks" on air bases, but "limited damage" to equipment (archived link).

More than 70 people were killed in the four-day conflict between India and Pakistan, which was sparked by an attack on tourists by gunmen in Indian-administered Kashmir last month that New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing -- a charge it denies (archived link).

The military confrontation -- which involved intense tit-for-tat drone, missile, aerial combat and artillery exchanges -- came to an abrupt end after US President Donald Trump announced a surprise ceasefire.

The video shared online is unrelated to the violence; it shows a fire at a chemical factory in Hanumangarh in the Indian state of Rajasthan.

Keyword searches on Google led to similar footage that Indian media organisation NDTV published May 8 on YouTube (archived link). Another Indian outlet, ETV Bharat, also posted a video of the fire from a different angle (archived link).

ETV Bharat reported that the blaze broke out at an acid factory in the industrial area of Hanumangarh Junction, killing two workers.

Hindi script on one of the fire trucks seen in the footage shared online says "Firefighting Services Rajasthan." The number plate of another fire truck also contains the sequence "RJ14", with "RJ" representing the state of Rajasthan and "14" representing the city of Jaipur under India's Regional Transport Office (archived link).

Screenshot of fire trucks in the footage, with Hindi markings and the plate number highlighted by AFP

Google Maps Street View imagery of the factory also matches the structure seen in the false posts (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the false post (L) and Google Maps Street View imagery, with elements highlighted by AFP

AFP has debunked other misinformation about the India-Pakistan conflict here.

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