Yemen’s Houthis claimed missile and drone attacks on Riyadh on September 19, targeting what they described as sensitive sites.

Saudi authorities said they intercepted a ballistic missile aimed at the capital. Flames and smoke were seen near Riyadh’s main airport, but no casualties were reported. The attack marked the first targeting of Riyadh since the latest escalation in fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.

In the above context, a video showing a massive fire with towering flames and thick black smoke has gone viral on social media. In the video, we can see fire in the tower while cars are moving on the street.

The footage has been shared widely on social media platforms amid a sharp military escalation between the Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi Arabia, claiming it captures the aftermath of recent Houthi missile and drone attacks on Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “Impacts of the Yemeni strikes on Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.”

SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The viral video shows a 2020 fire in Ajman, UAE.

On a Google reverse image search, we found that the same video was shared by the X account of CNNBusinessAr on August 5, 2020, with a caption that reads, “Ajman Civil Defence to ‘Al Roeya’: Evacuation of the market of all vendors and consumers to ensure their safety, and firefighting operations are still ongoing with support from teams from several centres.”

The video is a part of an X thread which suggests that it shows specialised teams affiliated with Civil Defence commencing firefighting operations to extinguish a massive fire that broke out in Ajman’s popular market, causing damage to most of the market’s shops.

We further found that the same video was also shared by a Spanish website on August 6, 2021, with a caption that reads, “A day after the devastating explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, a fire at a market in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, on Wednesday produced more dramatic images. Fortunately, no deaths have been reported so far, although a nearby hospital had to be evacuated. A massive plume of smoke filled the city's skies.”

We further found that the same website was also shared by Ultima Hora, a Spanish website, on August 6, 2020.

The report suggests that a massive fire broke out at a market in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, on August 5, 2020, prompting the evacuation of people at the site and a nearby hospital. Firefighters brought the blaze under control, and no casualties were reported. Authorities had not disclosed the cause. Videos of the intense flames spread widely on social media a day after the Beirut explosion.

Hence, we can ascertain that the viral claim is false.