Fact Check: This video DOES NOT show Pakistan suicide bombing that killed over 40 people

By Dheeshma Puzhakkal:

On July 30, a devastating suicide bombing in the Bajaur district of Pakistan killed at least 45 people and injured nearly 200 others. The incident occurred during a political meeting held by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F). Soon after the tragedy, a video allegedly from the site of the bombing began circulating on social media.

The video showed cars engulfed in flames, and black smoke emanating from the buildings. People could also be seen walking through the rubble.

India Today found that the video in question was from a gas line blast at Hengshui, China.

Our Probe

Reverse searching the video’s keyframes led us to media reports containing screenshots from the clip. These reports, published on July 29 said that the video was from a natural gas pipeline rupture at a construction site in Hengshui in China. According to reports, the blast took place at Hongqi Street in the Anping County of Hengshui.

The incident resulted in the deaths of two people and left two others injured. Reportedly, five people were taken into custody by public security authorities.

The same video and shots from the same location captured from different angles were shared on Twitter from July 29. In one such video we could see shops with name boards in Chinese. We also observed a signboard for “China Gas”, a Chinese natural gas company principally engaged in the distribution of natural gas in 273 Chinese cities.

To further confirm the location, India Today shared the viral video with a Chinese language expert, who confirmed that people in the background of the video can be heard speaking in Mandarin, the most common dialect used in China.

We also found the same video along with others on YouTube in a video report of the incident by TBVS News, a Taiwanese news network. “2 dead and 2 injured in Hebei gas explosion," read the headline of the report uploaded to YouTube on July 30.

We couldn’t independently verify the exact location of the video. However, it is likely that the video in question is from China and has been on the internet since at least July 29, a day before the Pakistan blast.

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