Clip From Iran Shared as Haryana Man Burning Petrol Pump Due to Price Hike

Facebook users have incorrectly claimed that the man set the pump ablaze due to rising fuel prices in the country.

The viral video is from Iran, where a man set fire to a fuel station due to personal animosity.

(Photo: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)

,A video of a person spraying fuel around a petrol pump and on an attendant before setting fire to the area and fleeing on a motorcycle is viral on Facebook. Some posts claim that the video is from Haryana and the man was angry due to the rising petrol prices.

However, we found that the video is actually from Iran and the incident took place on 10 June 2021 . Reportedly, the person set the fuel station ablaze because of a personal dispute between him and the station workers.

CLAIM

The viral post's Hindi claim reads "पेट्रोल पंप फूक फरार बढ़ती कीमतों से था परेशान|"

[Translation: Man flees after setting fire to a petrol pump, was troubled by rising prices.]

An archived version of this post can be accessed here.

This post by 'PAG News' on Facebook was viewed more than 2 lakh times before being taken down by the page. Some versions of the claim state that the incident occurred in Haryana.

Other versions of the claim on Facebook can be seen here, here, here, and here.

WHAT WE FOUND

We fragmented the video into multiple keyframes and conducted a reverse image search on each frame. This led us to a flipped version of the video uploaded to a video sharing website, eNama, which is based in Tehran.

We also found some visual clues in the video which helped us determine that the video was not from India. The number plate on the motorbike is unlike the pattern that is usually seen in India.

Using eNama's address as a clue, we looked up what number plates for motorcycles looked like in Iran. We found images that matched the pattern of the two-wheeler in the viral video.

The motorbike's number plate pattern is the same as one seen on Iranian bikes.

Fact-checking website BOOM Live contacted FactNameh, an Iranian fact-checking organisation, who helped them identify the hoarding in the background.

The hoarding visible in the background is of an Iranian carpet cleaning company.

They were informed that the hoarding was of a carpet cleaning company called 'Setareh Kavir'. The company's Instagram page states that it is "The first and only fully automatic carpet washing in Rafsanjan."

With the help of the location, we were able to match a logo of an oil company seen in the video to a gas station in the area.

A logo is visible on one of the fuel dispensers.

Finally, we came across a news report by Young Journalist's Club which carried a still from the viral video and it quoted the head of Rafsanjan police command as saying that the incident happened on 10 June due to some personal dispute.

The article carries a still from the viral video.

The culprit has since been identified and his motorcycle has been confiscated. Another report mentions the Colonel stating that the station operator's timely action prevented human and financial damage.

Clearly, this viral video is not from India and doesn't show a man setting fire to a petrol pump due to rising fuel prices. The video is from Rafsanjan, Iran and shows a man setting fire to a fuel station because of personal animosity between him and the station workers.

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