According to sources, the video from August 2020 depicts an explosion in Beirut, Lebanon.
India launched missile strikes on nine terrorist targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir in the wee hours of Wednesday, 7 May 2025. The attacks, known as Operation Sindoor, were carried out in response to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22. Following the attack, social media was flooded with videos related to the strike. Against this backdrop, a video of a massive explosion is going viral on social media with a claim that it shows recent visuals of Pakistan retaliating against India.
Let’s check the truth.
Fact Check-
We started our investigation by running a reverse image search on the same. The results led us to the same video uploaded on Twitter under the name ‘@pashaverse’ . The video has been uploaded on 5 August 2020 with the caption, “Close view of the #BeirutExplosion”. From this it is clear that the video has no connection with the recent ‘Operation Sindoor’.
Moving forward, we found a video report about the incident on the official YouTube channel of 10 Tampa Bay. It was uploaded on 8 August, 2020, and was titled, “New footage captures shocking moment explosion rips through Beirut”.
We also found a report by Financial Express published on 7 August, 2020 featuring the screengrab of the viral video. As per the report, massive explosion rocked Beirut, killing at least 149 people and causing widespread devastation, rescuers are still searching for survivors and the government is investigating what caused the disaster.
According to a report published in 9News , this explosion in Beirut was caused by a fire in a large depot of explosive material. According to the news, this material was stored at the port for years.
All these evidences confirms that the viral video is from the 2020 Beirut explosion.
Conclusion-
Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the viral video to be False. The viral video is not related to the recent airstrike by India on Pakistan. According to sources, the video from August 2020 depicts an explosion in Beirut, Lebanon.
Title:An old video of an explosion in Lebanon is being shared as Pakistan retaliating against India.
Written By: Usha ManojResult: False
