A video purportedly depicting a church on fire in the strife-torn Manipur state is widely shared on social media. Some users have shared the video claiming that the historic St. Joseph’s Church, which is over 300 years old, was set ablaze by pro-BJP extremists.
The video is shared on Facebook with a caption: “#मणिपुर सुग्नू इंफाल नही थम रही हिंसा आगजनी भाजपा समर्थक उग्रवादियो ने 300 साल से ज्यादा पुरानी St. Joseph’s चर्च जलाई 74 दिनो से मणिपुर जल रहा है” (English version, below.)
Here’s the link to the above post.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above claim, and found it to be FALSE.
Running the keyframes from the viral video through Reverse Image Search, we found a news report, dated July 7, 2023, carrying glimpses similar to the viral video. The article reads: “In Drosnay (France), in the Marne, a historic timber-framed church was destroyed by fire this Friday, July 7. The causes are not yet known. Many firefighters are on-site”.
Searching further, we found the same video featured in a news report by France Info on July 7, 2023. According to the article, “In the village of Drosnay (Marne), the inhabitants are in shock after the fire of their half-timbered church. The fire started at the end of the morning, in this building classified as historical heritage.” Similar news reports can be seen here, here and here.
We also came across a press release issued by the Marne prefecture and the DSDIS regarding the incident on July 7, 2023. As per the press release, the alert-processing centre was notified of a fire at the church in Drosnay shortly before noon. Emergency response teams, including 41 firefighters and 11 vehicles, were promptly deployed to the scene. The Departmental Fire and Rescue Operational Centre (CODIS) was activated to coordinate the intervention.
We were also able to geolocate the site of the fire using Google Earth, and the location can be viewed here.
Thus, it is evident from the above information that the viral video of a church set ablaze is not from Manipur.
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