Video of torching houses near Ijtema ground misleading: Rumor Scanner
Rumor Scanner identified similarities comparing the 2 July video with recent viral video on social media which confirmed that the video of the fire incident is not a recent one
Bangladesh fact-checking body Rumor Scanner debunked a viral video claiming a fire near Tongi's Ijtema ground, confirming it was from a Rohingya camp in June.
"The old video footage of the Cox's Bazar Rohingya camp's fire has been circulated claiming that it is a scene of torching houses near the Tongi Ijtema ground which is misleading," it said, enunciating the real incident of the fire on its website on Wednesday.
The fact-checking organisation in an investigation found a video of 2 July with the caption "sudden fire in Cox's Bazar Rohingya camp" circulated by a Facebook account named MD Rabbi Khan in a Facebook group named "Our Rajshahi".
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Rumor Scanner identified similarities comparing the 2 July video with recent viral video on social media which confirmed that the video of the fire incident is not a recent one.
In addition, a news video was found on the YouTube channel of mainstream media Ekattor TV, titled "Horrible fire in Rohingya camp; more than two hundred houses burned down", that broadcast on 1 June of this year.
A video was also seen being circulated on 2 June of this year, mentioning a fire scene in the Rohingya camp in Cox's Bazar, from a Facebook account named Md Yusuf, which was found to be similar to the viral video claiming it off near Ijtema ground.
Further investigation confirmed a news report published on 1 June in the mainstream media Prothom Alo that a fire broke out in a Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar that day. The report revealed that "another fire broke out in Tanjimarkhola Refugee Camp (Camp-13) in Palangkhali Union, Ukhiya, Cox's Bazar. The fire broke out at the D-3 Block of the refugee camp around 1pm on Saturday (1 June)".
The Rumor Scanner even did not find any connection between the audio used in the viral video and the fire incident in the Rohingya camp. It appears that the audio of a different incident has been added to this video with the help of technology.
It is mentioned that a child died in a fire in a house in the Dattapara Haji Market area of Tongi, Gazipur around 9:30pm on 17 December. Seven tin-shed rooms of the house were burnt in the fire.
Meanwhile, there were incidents of attacks and clashes between the followers of Maulana Zubair and Maulana Saad Kandhalvi over control of the Tongi Ijtema ground in Gazipur, but no fire incident was reported at that place, the fact-checking body said.
It concluded that the old footage of the Cox's Bazar Rohingya campfire has been falsified as a scene of houses being set on fire near the Tongi Ijtema ground; which is misleading.
