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| - Fact Check: 2017 pic of Burj Khalifa lit up as Union Jack FALSELY shared as Queen Elizabeth II tribute
A 2017 pic of Burj Khalifa is being shared on social media with a claim that it was lit up in the colours of the UK flag to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II.
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India Today Fact Check
This photo is from 2017 when Burj Khalifa was illuminated in the colours of the Union Jack to show solidarity following the suicide bombing attack in Manchester, UK.
As the world mourned the death of Queen Elizabeth II, a photo of Dubai skyscraper Burj Khalifa lit up in the colours of the United Kingdom flag has been widely shared on social media, supposedly as a tribute to the Queen.
People shared the photo on Twitter with captions like, “The latest tribute to the passing of HM #QueenElizabeth at #BurjKhalifa #UAE.” The archived version of this post can be seen here.
AFWA’s investigation found that while this photo is real, it’s not recent at all — it’s from 2017.
AFWA probe
A reverse search of the photo led us to a BBC report from May 24, 2017. Per the report, multiple iconic landmarks like Geneva's Jet d'Eau fountain, Dubai's Burj Khalifa, and Australia's Brisbane's Story Bridge were illuminated in the colours of the British flag to pay tribute to the victims of the suicide bombing attack in Manchester, UK. This incident happened at a crowded pop concert leaving 22 people dead and more than 100 injured.
The same photo was used in an Al Arabiya report from the same date.
Burj Khalifa was lit up on the Queen’s 94th b’day
In 2020, Burj Khalifa was lit up in honour of Queen Elizabeth II on her 94th birthday. Its photo was shared by the official Instagram account of the tower on April 21, 2020.
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Till the time of writing this story on September 9, 2022, there were no reports of Burj Khalifa lit up in the colours of the British flag as a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II. However, the Empire State Building in New York City in the US shared a photo on its official Twitter account of the skyscraper bathed in purple light. The tweet ( https://twitter.com/EmpireStateBldg/status/1567966413188628480 ) read, “Tonight, our tower lights will shine in purple and sparkle in silver to honour the life and legacy of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.”
Tonight, our tower lights will shine in purple and sparkle in silver to honor the life and legacy of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. pic.twitter.com/qIpk7lQgbc — Empire State Building (@EmpireStateBldg) September 8, 2022
Update: Two days after this story was published, Dubai's Burj Khalifa was illuminated with the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and the colours of the Union Jack.
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