A video is going viral on social media sites. Users are sharing this video with the claim that Pakistan has lost billions.
A verified Twitter user named Saif Awan tweeted a 23-second video with the caption, “Guddu Power Plant is set on fire or set, but Pakistan has lost 15 billion”.
Another user Major Tahir Zaman Raja Rtd Ex SSG captioned, “#We_Support_PM_Imran_Khan *1762 MW capacity Guddu power plant is totally destroyed by burning.The action was absolutely necessary to sell solar panels* *Not a single media channel broadcasted this news* *It’s really surprising.*”
It has also been shared by other social media users with a similar claim.
Fact Check:
To know the reality of viral claim, we did a simple search on the internet with the help of certain “keywords”. During this we got a report published by Geo News. It has been told in this report that due to the fire at Guddu Power Plant during the Bakrid holidays, there has been a loss of 15 billion rupees to the government exchequer.
According to the report, the senior engineer says that it will take about a month to restore the operation of the plant. Sources said the power plant did not have fire extinguishers. A four-member team led by the Chief Engineer has started an investigation.
Pakistan Today also covered this news with the headline “Fire at Guddu power plant causes Rs15b loss”.
It is worth noting that the photo that was used while giving the news about Guddu Power Plant is very different from the video that is going viral, so we did a reverse image search on the internet for some frames of the video. After that we found that a video tweet from a verified account named BILAL SARWARY was found. This video has been captioned, “#AFG fuel tankers exploding. Investors losing their money in a matter of seconds. Financial tragedy on the Afghan – Iran border. No one knows what started the fire. No reports of casualties or fatalities at this stage. Video shared with me.
In this video it can be seen how fierce the fire is. Balls of fire are rising in the sky.
At the same time, CNN has covered it under the headline, “500 vehicles in flames after fuel tanker explodes on Afghanistan-Iran border”
The same video can be seen uploaded on YouTube channel Mix Clips on 13 February 2021.
Conclusion:
This fact check by DFRAC makes it clear that there was a fire at Guddu plant in Pakistan, but users are misleadingly sharing videos of Afghanistan in the name of Guddu plant.
Claim: Video of fire at Guddu Power Plant (Pakistan)
Claimant: Social Media Users
Conclusion: Misleading
