Fact Check: Videos claiming explosions due to military coup in China are FALSE
Social media was abuzz with rumours stating that China President Xi Jinping was put under house arrest. Netizens claimed that Jinping was removed as the chief of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in a military coup.
Social media was abuzz with rumours stating that China President Xi Jinping was put under house arrest. Netizens claimed that Jinping was removed as the chief of People's Liberation Army (PLA) in a military coup. It was also speculated that a large number of flights were cancelled from and to Beijing.
At the same time, a video of a huge blast was also in circulation in connection with the rumour on the military coup. The video was shared virally with the caption "Footage of big explosions coming from #Beijing during the china coup against Xi Jinping. China is in turmoil! Xi Jinping is missing! Is this a coup? Has he been assassinated and I uncover a military mystery no one is talking about. #chinacoup #chinesecoup
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Fact check:
The claim that the video showed explosions in Beijing due to a military coup is FALSE. In fact, the video showed explosion in a warehouse in Tianjin in 2015.
When the keyframes from the video were extracted and searched using Google reverse image search, we found several articles that shared the same visuals as those in the viral video.
The same video was published on Dailymotion in 2015 with the title '200 Tons TNT Equivalent Huge Explosion in Tianjin China'.
The video was also shared by the YouTube channel of CBS Mornings on August 15, 2015, with the title 'China warehouse explosion: New blasts and toxic winds and rising death toll'. The description of the video states "There are new explosions and new concerns at the scene of the warehouse catastrophe in China. The warehouse, in the northeast port city of Tianjin, was used to store toxic chemicals. There is fear that shifting winds are sending fumes into residential areas. The death toll in the tragedy has risen to 85 and many are still missing. Jonathan Vigliotti reports."
According to news articles in cbsnews.com, huge explosions at a warehouse due to dangerous materials in the northeastern Chinese port of Tianjin killed at least 17 people, injured hundreds, and sent massive fireballs into the night sky, say officials and witnesses.
China's state broadcaster, CCTV, said that at least 17 people were killed and that 32 were in critical condition in hospital. Hundreds of others were taken to hospital. The explosions knocked off doors of buildings in the area and shattered windows up to several miles away.
At the same time, www.thehindubusinessline.com reported: Massive blasts were caused by combustible and explosive goods stored in containers at the warehouse, official People's Daily online reported.
Chemicals at a container terminal exploded in Binhai New Area in Tianjin. State-run CCTV showed footage of massive explosions in the city. More than 10,000 people were reportedly evacuated from the nearby areas. The condition of 66 injured was stated to be serious. In the video, huge mushroom clouds and fire can be seen far off. The fire is still raging at the place of explosions with huge smoke billowing out.
Hence, the warehouse blasts that occurred in Tianjin in 2015 are being shared as recent blasts in Beijing due to a military coup in China which is FALSE.