On June 13-15, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, striking over 100 Iranian nuclear and military sites—including Natanz, Tehran and senior IRGC commanders—killing hundreds. Iran retaliated with drones and missiles, escalating a dangerous aerial conflict.
In the above context, a video of large-scale destruction in an urban area is widely being shared on social media.
The video is shared with a caption suggesting that the viral video is of Tehran, Iran’s capital, after Israel attacked it.
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “Tehran, a hub of terror, has almost become Gaza. Israel dropped thousands of bombs in one night and turned the entire city into smoke...! Israel is very ruthless.” (Translated from Hindi)
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The viral video is old and is of the Philadelphia plane crash.
On a Google reverse image search, we found that the same video was shared by a YouTube channel on February 2. The video was shared with a caption that reads, “More footage of the Philadelphia plane crash.”
The YouTube shorts of the same video were also shared on February 1. The video was shared with a caption that reads. “A small aircraft has crashed in Philadelphia, and new details are emerging about what happened.”
Taking a hint, we searched with relevant keywords and found that the incident was also reported by Times News, suggesting that a medical plane crashed in Philadelphia near a shopping centre.
In this video, at around the 15-second timestamp, we can see the same red building as seen in the viral video. Moreover, we can also see ‘Dunkin’ written on a building adjacent to the red building. In the video, we can see a logo of Dunkin and Donuts written on a smashed glass.
Taking a hint, we geolocated a Dunkin’ Donuts outlet and found that the red building is opposite the food outlet. The same building is also visible in the viral video. Thus, we can confirm that the location of the viral clip is indeed from Philadelphia.
Therefore, we can ascertain that the viral claim is false.