SUMMARY
This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
Claim:
A photo shows a crater formed in the wake of the Beirut explosions.
On August 5, Facebook page Astrochild天体 (celestial body) posted a photo of a huge crater with the caption, “Pray for Lebanon.”
It was posted with 3 other photos of destroyed buildings and fires.
This post was flagged by Facebook Claim Check, a tool that detects potentially false content. The page has 600,854 followers and the post had acquired 1,400 reactions, 8 comments, and 390 shares as of writing.
Rating: FALSE
The facts:
The photo is not of the aftermath of the Beirut explosions, but of the Tianjin explosions in 2015.
In August 2015, explosions occurred at the hazardous goods storage facility in the Chinese port of Tianjin, killing at least 165 people.
A reverse image search revealed that the original photo was sourced from the European Pressphoto Agency (EPA). It was used in articles on the chemical blast by The Independent and BBC.
The original caption by the EPA read: “An aerial view of a large hole in the ground in the aftermath of a huge explosion that rocked the port city of Tianjin, China, 15 August 2015.”
This claim was also fact-checked by NewsMobile on August 7.
Meanwhile, the other 3 photos in the post are actual images from the aftermath of the Beirut explosions.
As of Friday, August 7, the death toll of the blast is at 149, with over 5,000 injured. – Loreben Tuquero/Rappler.com
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