2021 video from Sri Lanka shared as American ship that was set on fire by the Houthi militant group

The viral video shows the Sri Lankan Navy rescue of the crew of the Singapore cargo vessel, which caught fire and sank off the coast of Columbo, Sri Lanka. It dates back to 2021.

Yemen’s Houthi group backed by Iran, claimed to have targeted a US destroyer and Israel-bound ship in the Red Sea. Against this backdrop, a video of a cargo ship on fire in the middle of the sea has gone viral on social media with the claim that it showed another US ship attacked by the Yemeni extremist group Houthis.

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Fact Check- 

Our investigation began with a reverse image search of key frames from the viral video, which led us to a Chinese news report published on 27 May, 2021 The report featured a screenshot of the viral video by making it clear that the video is not related to any recent attack.

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As per reports, Sri Lanka’s was facing its worst marine ecological disaster triggered after a Singapore-flagged cargo ship caught fire near the Colombo beach, fuelling severe environmental concerns.

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Moving forward, we have come across a video uploaded on Guardian news regarding this incident. The caption states, “Sri Lanka faces environmental disaster as cargo ship burns for days”.

Taking account of all these evidences, we can understand that an old video 2 from Sri Lanka shared as American ship that was set on fire by the Houthi militant group.

Conclusion– 

Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the viral video to be False. The viral video shows the Sri Lankan Navy rescue of the crew of the Singapore cargo vessel, which caught fire and sank off the coast of Columbo, Sri Lanka. It dates back to 2021.