Fact Check: Viral image showing explosion of iPhone is not related to blasts in Lebanon, it is old
Lebanon is facing severe turmoil after a series of electronic devices started exploding targeting Hezbollah’s network.
iPhone explosion
Lebanon is facing severe turmoil after a series of electronic devices started exploding targeting the Hezbollah’s network. Firstly, hundreds of pagers belonging to Hezbollah military group exploded simultaneously, killing at least 12 people. A day after these blasts, hand held walkie talkies exploded killing at least 20 people and injuring thousands of people across the country. Allegedly, Israel is behind these attacks. Two firms based in Taiwan and Hungary accused in media reports of manufacturing the pagers, denied responsibility. A Japanese company which produced the walkie talkies that exploded in Lebanon has stopped manufacturing that model 10 years ago itself. Israeli defense Minister Yoav Gallant has declared the start of a new phase of war as army turns attention to northern front with Lebanon.
Meanwhile, an image showing an exploded iPhone is shared virally with the claim that an iPhone has exploded in Lebanon along with other electronic devices. A few users shared the image with the caption “iPhones exploding in Lebanon”, while others shared it with captions like “WHAT IS HAPPENING IN LEBANON RIGHT NOW IS A LARGE SCALE TERRORIST ATTACK Communication devices, vehicle batteries, motor and scooter batteries, solar batteries, timer batteries, computers, mobile phones, shavers, "lithium batteries" exploded. Fires have broken out in homes and vehicles due to the larger size of the batteries, causing more severe damage. There are a large number of injuries, we are talking about hundreds.”
Fact check:
The claim is False. The image in circulation does not show exploded iPhone in Lebanon.
When we used Google reverse image search and searched the viral image, we found that the image had been online since 2021.
An X post shared the viral image with the caption “This is an old photo of an iPhone 12 Pro Max from March of 2021. The owner was charging the iPhone when the phone suddenly exploded, and the table and bed pillow caught fire. This was in Egypt and is unrelated to the Israelis. Original reporting. Original image.
We also found a report published on a website named Cairo24.com in Arabic language stating that a child named Hamza suffered a broken arm after trying to escape the fire that broke out when an iPhone exploded while it was plugged in to charge. The child's father, a businessman named "Ahmed Okasha", put his iPhone in the electrical socket to charge it, and suddenly the phone exploded, and the table and the bed pillow caught fire, and almost reached the sleeping child, but he woke up and tried to escape, so he fell to the ground and broke his arm. The father arrived and was able to put out the fire, and the child was transferred to hospital for treatment.
Another Arabic website named nabd.com also published an article stating that a child was injured due to iphone explosion in Maadi, Cairo. Therefore, the viral images does not show iPhone explosion in Lebanon. The claim is False.