Crowded Saudi supermarket video shows a store opening, not war panic buying
A video circulating on Facebook claims to show people in Saudi Arabia crowding into a supermarket because of an impending war. A fact-check by Dismislab found the claim to be false. The footage was filmed in 2025 at the opening of a supermarket in Mecca and has no connection to any conflict.
On October 17, 2026, a video was posted from a verified Facebook page named “Brigadier General M A Haque Page.” The 25-second video shows people jostling inside a supermarket to grab shopping trolleys and baskets. The caption reads: “Extreme panic in Saudi Arabia… 😱🇸🇦 Out of fear of war, people in Saudi Arabia have crowded into supermarkets in a downright frightening way. One video captures a possible future crisis: war, shortages of goods, rising prices, and a hint of the hard days that may lie ahead.” (translated from Bangla)
Most users who commented on the post did not believe the claim. Some said such a crowd could be the result of a new store opening or a special offer. One user, claiming to be in Saudi Arabia, wrote that nothing like this is happening there.
As of publication, the video had received more than 3,600 reactions, been shared more than 400 times, and viewed more than 171,000 times.
The same claim also spread through several other Facebook pages (1, 2, 3, 4) and personal profiles (1, 2, 3).
To verify the video, Dismislab conducted a reverse image search on several of its keyframes. This found an exact match with a video uploaded on September 1, 2025, from a TikTok account named “Al Badr Makkah” (البدر مكة). The Arabic caption of that video translates as: “Explore, inauguration of Sharaye Economic Hall #Saudi_Arabia #Mecca.”
Text in Arabic was also overlaid on the video, reading: “Inauguration at Sharaye, The Premium Economy Lounge.” The video mentions Mecca as its location.
In further verification, a supermarket with that name was found at the same location on Google Maps. Beneath the Arabic name on its signboard, “The Premium Economy Lounge” is written in English. The establishment is located in the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
The scene in the video was compared with photos uploaded by users on Google Maps. This found a match in the building’s structure and the arrangement of the ceiling lights. The establishment is part of a Saudi Arabia-based supermarket chain.
Earlier, on August 30, 2025, another video of the opening of this supermarket was published on TikTok. It shows many people who had been waiting outside entering the store at the time of the opening.
The same video had previously been circulated as a scene of “illegal immigrants shopping.” Myth Detector, a Georgia-based (the country) fact-checking organization, also verified the video and found that it shows the opening of a supermarket in Saudi Arabia.
In other words, the video does not show fear of war. It was filmed at the opening of a supermarket in Mecca in 2025.
