Fact-check: Pro-democracy protesters set fire to Hong Kong shopping mall?
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A video of Hong Kong protesters setting fire to a high-end shopping mall on Hong Kong Island has been viewed tens of thousands of times in the 24 hours since it was posted on Facebook with the claim. . The claim is false. The footage is actually of a fire in a shopping mall in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
This video was posted here on September 18, 2019 by 杭富财 on Facebook. It has been viewed over 31,000 times.
The one-minute, 27-second video shows flames and smoke filling the central part of a shopping mall. The footage is shaky, and a man’s voice can be heard throughout the audio.
Below is a screenshot of the misleading Facebook post:
The camera later zooms in on the fire, and a fire alarm sounds as people are seen leaving the area.
A journalist from AFP’s Hong Kong bureau analyzed the footage. Some Mandarin phrases can be heard on the audio: “in public”; “Fire at Furniture Exhibition”; “Disperse the crowd”.
The misleading post’s traditional Chinese caption translates into English: “Pacific Place in Admiralty. The crowd was just lighting the fire, so that the oxygen inside the house would quickly dry up, and the people could die together.”
Hong Kong has seen three months of street protests that have turned violent at times, including protesters throwing petrol bombs and setting fires on city streets.
A similar video was posted on Facebook with similar claims here, here and here.
The claim is false. A fire broke out in a shopping mall in Malaysia. According to the mall’s Facebook page, the cause of the fire is under investigation.
A reverse image search on Google using key frames from the video found the news, which was published by Singaporean news channel Channel News Asia, with the headline: “Fire at Johor Bahru Shopping Mall”.
The CNA article reads in part: “Johor Bahru: An exhibitor’s display caught fire at a popular shopping center in Johor Bahru on Wednesday (September 18) afternoon, triggering a fire alarm.
“Firefighters were called to The Mall, Mid Valley Southkey Johor, after reports of a fire on the ground floor of the shopping center at around 2.15am.”
The same video used in the misleading posts can be seen here on Twitter. The footage is embedded below.
The CNA article also linked to an announcement that appeared on The Mall, Mid Valley Southkey’s official Facebook page, posted on September 18, 2019.
The English announcement read: “Accident at the Mall, Mid Valley Southkey, Johor, Wednesday, 18 September 2019
“The management of The Mall, Mid Valley Southkey, would like to confirm that an incident occurred at our premises earlier this afternoon.
“Details: A fire broke out in an exhibitor’s display at Center Court, Ground Floor, The Mall, Mid Valley Southkey, at approximately 2:14 p.m., and was subsequently extinguished by the Emergency Response Team at 2:18 p.m. As of 4 p.m., we can confirm that there have been no injuries or casualties.
“Members of the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department are currently at the scene, conducting all necessary investigations, and securing the premises for the safety of all occupants without further disruption to mall operations.
“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused. We would like to reiterate that the safety of our shoppers and guests is our top priority.”
AFP found photos of the mall on its official Facebook page here and here, which match the mall seen in the misleading video.
Below are two sets of comparisons between screenshots from the misleading video (L) and images from Mall’s Facebook page (R), with relevant parts circled in red:
Related images can also be found on Google Maps, such as this one and this one posted by users.
Below are screenshots of these two images from Google Maps:
The Malaysian mall fire was also covered by the local newspaper The Star here and the Malay Mail here.
