Video shows ceiling collapsing at Chongqing shopping centre, not airport

Published on July 25, 2025 at 07:15
3 min read
By Charlotte KWAN, AFP Hong Kong

As heavy rains lashed southwest China in early July, a video was misleadingly shared in posts claiming it showed the roof of an airport in Chongqing collapsing. The footage in fact shows a section of ceiling collapsing at a shopping centre in the megacity, not an airport.

"Airport roof crashed down in Chongquing (sic), China's 3rd largest industrialized city," reads the caption of a clip shared on X on July 9, 2025.

The clip, which was viewed more than 3.3 million times, shows a section of ceiling suddenly giving way and drenching the floor underneath in dark-coloured water. Several people can be seen filming and stepping back as the liquid starts to spread.

"China is at least 900 years ahead of India," adds the caption, in an apparent mocking reference to Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi saying that "China is 10 years ahead" of India (archived link).

The post circulated as China endured a summer of extreme weather, with downpours battering much of the country's south for weeks (archived link). State media reported that the most recent deluge forced the evacuation of 556 people in Chongqing, and triggered a landslide in nearby Sichuan province.

Screenshot of the misleading X post captured on July 24, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

The clip was also shared in similar Facebook, Threads and X posts .

While the footage was filmed in Chongqing, it does not show an airport in the megacity.

As of July 25, there have been no official reports of the roof collapsing at any airports in Chongqing.

A reverse image search on Chinese search engine Baidu using keyframes from the misleadingly shared clip led to the same footage published on Weibo by the Chongqing-based Sanxiang Metropolis Daily on July 8 (archived link).

"In the afternoon of July 8, some netizens reported on social platforms that the ceiling of the B1 floor of Paradise Walk shopping centre in Chongqing suddenly collapsed," the post reads.

Screenshot comparison of the misleadingly shared clip on X (left) and the video posted by the Sanxiang Metropolis Daily (right)

Similar clips shared elsewhere on Weibo and Douyin also say they were filmed at the shopping centre in Chongqing (archived here and here).

Screenshot comparison between the misleadingly shared clip (left) and a similar video posted on Weibo (right), with corresponding elements highlighted by AFP

The Paradise Walk shopping centre said on its official Weibo page the collapse was caused by sudden heavy rainfall on July 8 (archived link). It added there were no injuries and shoppers were evacuated from the area.

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