False claims spread taking advantage of recent fire incidents
Several fire incidents have recently occurred in different places of Bangladesh. Following these incidents, various video clips have been circulated on social media with multiple claims. Alongside accurate information, many of these posts contain false and misleading claims. Dismislab’s verification confirmed that at least four such videos have been circulated with false and misleading claims.
Claim 1
A video claiming to show a fire at Islami Bank in Chawkbazar, Chattogram, was circulated on social media on October 19. Verification found that the video is at least one week old.
The video was shared from a Facebook page named Ami Bir Muktijoddhar Shontan (I am the child of a freedom fighter). The caption read, “At this moment, a terrible fire at Islami Bank, Chawkbazar… the golden Bangladesh is silently burning… what has started in the country? Fire everywhere.” This video has been shared at least 250 times and viewed more than 26,000 times at the time of writing this report. This same video was also posted from several other Facebook pages and profiles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
Multiple reverse image search of the keyframes from the video returned several older videos showing the same scene on Facebook and TikTok. On October 12, a Facebook page named “Chattogram Pratidin Digital” uploaded the same video with a caption stating that it was an incident near Chawkbazar Police Station in Chattogram. The same video, uploaded a week earlier, was also found on TikTok, with text edited on the top reading, “Disaster never comes with a warning. Stay safe everyone. 12/10/2025 Chattogram, Chawkbazar.”
Therefore, the fire in Chattogram’s Chawkbazar took place a week earlier, not on October 19.
Claim 2
Another video claiming to show a fire at Pabna Technical School and College was circulated on social media on October 19. Verification found that it was actually from a fire and earthquake drill organized by the Fire Service and Civil Defense on October 13 as part of the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2025.
The video was posted from a Facebook profile with the caption, “Fire at Pabna Technical School and College. A sudden fire broke out at Pabna Technical School and College. Within moments, panic spread across the campus. Students ran out in fear for their lives while teachers and staff desperately tried to conduct rescue operations. According to local sources, smoke was first seen coming out from one of the college buildings around 10:00 a.m. Within a short time, the fire spread to nearby areas. Fire Service units rushed to the spot and began working to bring the fire under control. The source of the fire has not yet been confirmed. It is believed that it might have started due to a short circuit. No casualties have been reported so far. The local administration has visited the site and ordered an investigation.”
The video has been shared 17 times so far. The same video was also posted from several other pages and profiles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
Multiple keyframe searches found two similar videos on Facebook pages named Dainik Pabnar Alo and Swadhin Barta (1, 2). Another post with detailed information and photos was found on a page named “Pabna Fire Station”. Analysis of these posts showed that on Monday, October 13, the Fire Service and Civil Defense conducted a drill on earthquake and fire preparedness at Pabna Technical School and College to mark the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2025. The video that has recently spread is actually a clip from that drill.
For further verification, Dismislab contacted Saiful Ahsan Bhuiyan, Assistant Director of Pabna Fire Service and Civil Defense. He confirmed that the video is from the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction program and that no fire incident occurred at Pabna Technical School and College on October 19.
Therefore, the video claiming to show a fire at Pabna Technical School and College is actually footage from a fire and earthquake drill organized by the Fire Service and Civil Defense.
Claim 3
A video claiming that a train in Dhaka was “deliberately set on fire at this moment” began circulating on social media from the night of October 19. Verification found that the video shows the fire incident on the Benapole Express train in Dhaka in January 2024.
The video was posted from a Facebook profile with the caption, “At this moment, a terrible fire in a train in the capital. The country’s vital resources are being systematically destroyed. This is part of their meticulous design to destabilize the country. People must stay alert right now. They are seeking an exit by destroying the nation.” The video has been shared more than 150 times and received over 200 reactions so far.
The same video was also posted from several other pages and profiles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).
Keyword searches found the identical video posted on January 5, 2024, from a Facebook page named Comilla News. The caption read, “Fire on train in the capital, death toll rises to 5.”
Further verification found reports from several media outlets including Prothom Alo and The Daily Star (1, 2, 3, 4) on the Benapole Express fire. According to those reports, four people were killed when a fire broke out on the Benapole Express train at Gopibagh in Dhaka on January 5, 2024.
Therefore, the train fire video currently circulating is not recent, but from January 2024.
Claim 4
Two video clips claiming a fire broke out on a launch named Mayur-7 at Sadarghat in Dhaka have circulated on social media. Fact-check shows that the incident took place in 2023.
Both video clips spread on social media with almost identical claims. A 26-second video posted from a Facebook page named Probashir Nishash carried the caption, “Fire on a launch at Sadarghat.” In the narration, a woman’s voice is heard saying, “Yesterday, the cargo section of the airport burned to ashes — hundreds of crores of taka were lost, some people in Bangladesh who do business are now ruined; and today, look, again a launch at Sadarghat is on fire.”
This video has been shared about 150 times and received more than 300 reactions. On the other hand, another video was posted from a Facebook page named “Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil MP”, with the caption, “Fire on Mayur–7 launch at Dhaka Sadarghat — cursed Yunus! Cursed Bangladesh.” That video had been shared over 100 times and received more than 700 reactions as of this report.
The same two videos were also posted from multiple other Facebook pages and profiles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8).
In verifying the authenticity of the videos, several keyframe searches were conducted, which found multiple older videos showing similar scenes. A video resembling the one shared from Probashir Nishash was found on a YouTube channel named A Jons Production. It was uploaded on June 30, 2023, with the caption, “Fire on MV Mayur-7 launch at Sadarghat.”
Another video matching the one posted from Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil MP was found on the YouTube channel of Bangladeshi news outlet Prothom Alo. That video was also uploaded on June 30, 2023, with the caption, “Fire on Mayur-7 launch at Sadarghat.” A related news report was also found on the outlet’s website using relevant keyword searches.
Further verification identified several news reports published by different media outlets about the same incident. According to a report aired on the YouTube channel of television news outlet News 24, a passenger launch named Mayur-7 caught fire on the Dhaka–Chandpur route on June 30, 2023. Jamuna Television, Somoy Television, Channel 24, and DBS News also published video reports on the incident. All of them confirmed that the fire occurred on June 30, 2023.
The footage shown in those reports matches the structure, design, and surrounding environment of the Mayur-7 launch seen in the recently circulated videos.
A keyword search on Facebook also found a page named Mayur Launch. The page, originally created in 2017 under the name “Mayur 7 Launch,” was renamed in 2023 to “Mayur Launch.” Several posts (1, 2) from that page stated that the old fire incident of Mayur-7 was being reshared with a false claim.
Therefore, the videos shared with the claim of a fire on the Mayur-7 launch at Sadarghat in Dhaka are old. They actually show the June 30, 2023 fire incident on the same launch, which is now being circulated as a recent fire incident.
Disclaimer: The original version of this fact-check report was published in Bengali on Dismislab’s Bengali website on October 22, 2025. The English translation was completed later; however, to maintain time accuracy and avoid any potential misinterpretation, the English version has been published with the original publication date.
