This video has circulated online since March 2019 about a fire in China’s Kaifeng city
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on May 1, 2020 at 02:48
- 3 min read
- By AFP Hong Kong
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The video was published here on Facebook on April 24, 2020.
It has been viewed more than 5,200 times.
The four-minute 39-second footage shows a fire burning a multi-storey building. Several voices can be heard throughout the video, shouting “fire” in Mandarin.
Below is a screenshot of the misleading Facebook post:
The post’s caption, written in traditional Chinese, translates to English as: “Last night in Kaifeng, Henan, flames in a residential area were spreading fast.”
Kaifeng is a city in central China’s Henan province.
The video was also published here and here on Facebook in March and April 2020, alongside a similar claim.
The claim is false; the video actually shows a fire that erupted in Kaifeng more than one year ago.
A reverse image search of keyframes extracted from the video and a subsequent keyword search found a shorter version of the clip published here on the Weibo account of Chinese state-run newspaper Global Times on March 16, 2019.
Below is a screenshot of Global Times’ Weibo post:
Below are two sets of screenshot comparison between the video in the misleading post (L) and the Global Times video (R):
The post’s caption reads: “[High-rise residential building on fire / Spread from the third to 17th floor within two minutes / “Flame pillar” only extinguished after 40 minutes] On the evening of March 14, a fire broke out at a high-rise residential building in Yuanhong Jinjiang residential area, Binhe Road, Yuwangtai district, Kaifeng city, Henan province.
“The blaze started between two third-floor units and later shot up over the building, reaching the 17th floor in about two minutes. @Kaifeng Fire Service reported that the fire was successfully put out after more than 40 minutes, with no casualties. The cause of the fire is under investigation.”
A further keyword search on the WeChat account of Kaifeng Fire Service found this March 15, 2019, report about the March 14 fire at the same location, and this April 7, 2019, report on the investigation.
The title of the April 7, 2019, report states: “Notice on investigation of a fire at building 4, Yuanhong Jinjiang residential area, Yuwangtai district, Kaifeng city”.
The article reads, in part: “The fire started west of a north-facing terrace that belonged to unit 2, second floor, building 4, where combustible materials were stored. The flames ripped through the exterior wall insulation between the second and 17th floors. No casualties were reported.
"Preliminary investigations show the fire was caused by the ignition of materials such as cardboard boxes."
Below is a screenshot of the April 7, 2019, Kaifeng Fire Service report, which includes a photo of the apartment building:
The same building can be seen on Baidu street view here.
Below is a screenshot of the building on Baidu street view, uploaded in May 2016:
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