Footage of fire in UK falsely linked to Iran-Israel war
- Published on June 27, 2025 at 09:56
- 3 min read
- By Harshana SILVA, AFP Sri Lanka
Copyright © AFP 2017-2025. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
"Iran launches counterattacks," reads in part a Sinhala-language Facebook post published on June 22, 2025. "The video below shows the situation in Tel Aviv".
It goes on to give details of the attack, which it says came after the US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, and shares a clip showing firefighters dousing flames that engulfed a building.
US President Donald Trump said on June 21 that the strikes were a "very successful attack", before Iran's armed forces said they targeted multiple sites in Israel in retaliation, including Ben Gurion airport, logistics bases and various layers of command and control centres (archived link).
It also launched missiles at the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar -- the biggest US military facility in the Middle East (archived link).
Trump announced on June 24 that Iran and Israel had agreed to a "complete and total ceasefire" (archived link).
Iran's health ministry said Israeli strikes have killed at least 610 civilians during the 12-day war, while official figures from Israel said 28 people were killed in strikes across the country (archived link).
The false claim also spread elsewhere on Facebook.
But the clip is unrelated to the ongoing conflict. AFP has previously debunked a separate false claim that used the same video.
A combination of reverse image and keyword searches on Google found a YouTube video uploaded on April 29 with a caption that says, "Huge fire at disused Henley College building in Coventry, Oxfordshire, England" (archived link).
British news outlets BBC and The Sun also published visuals of the blaze that engulfed a disused former school building in Coventry (archived here and here)
The West Midlands Fire Service issued a statement on the day, saying no injuries or casualties were reported in the fire (archived link).
The West Midlands police announced a day later that two teenage boys were arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with the fire (archived link).
Google Street View imagery of the area shows that the red college building seen in the false clip is located in Coventry, England, not Israel (archived link).
AFP has debunked other false claims linked to the Iran-Israel conflict here.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
