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| - Fact Check: This video DOES NOT show Iran's attack on Israel but wildfires in Chile
India Today Fact Check found that the viral video predates Iran's aerial attack on Israel. This video has been online since February 2024 and shows a forest fire in Chile.
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India Today Fact Check
This video has been online since February 2024 shows a forest fire in Chile.
Iran launched a massive aerial attack on Israel with over 300 drones and missiles in the early hours of April 14, in retaliation to the April 1 Israeli strike on its consulate in Syria that killed 13 people.
In its aftermath, a video allegedly showing a “Massive fire in the Negev, Israel" went viral on the internet. Some posts claimed, "Breaking News: Missiles have begun reaching the settlements. #israel".
India Today Fact Check found that the viral video predates Iran’s aerial attack on Israel. This video has been online since February 2024 and shows a forest fire in Chile.
OUR PROBE
Under one viral post, many X users pointed out that the video was old and from Chile. People in the video could also be heard speaking in Spanish.
We performed a reverse search on screengrabs from the viral video and found the same video in an X post from February 4. This means that the clip predates Iran’s recent attack on Israel. As per the post, the video is from Achupallas, Chile. Many others had also shared this video and claimed that it showed a February 2024 fire in Achupallas, Chile.
A subsequent search led us to many news reports published in February 2024 on wildfires in the Chilean city of Achupallas. As per the Guardian, wildfires ravaged central Chile and killed over a hundred people. These wildfires were reportedly Chile’s deadliest disaster since the 2010 earthquake.
We also found a news report from the Times of Israel which featured screengrabs of the viral video. This report also noted that the video was not from Israel, but from Chile.
It’s noteworthy that as per the Israel Defense Forces, 99 per cent of the projectiles (Iran’s drones and missiles) were intercepted by its aerial defence systems with only a handful reaching Israeli territory.
Thus, it’s more than clear that an old video from wildfires in Chile was falsely shared as Iran’s attack on Israel.
(Written by Ashish Kumar)
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