U.S. airport fire video falsely shared as Dhaka airport rescue scene
A video claiming to show passengers being rescued after a fire at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka has recently spread on Facebook. However, verification shows that the first 1:29 minutes of the 2:39-minute clip are not from Bangladesh. The footage is from an old incident that took place about three months ago at Denver International Airport in the United States.
The video circulating on social media shows panicked passengers escaping a plane through emergency slides amid smoke and fire. The caption reads, “🚨🔥 This video has shaken Dhaka! 😭 A terrible fire at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport — rescue operations are ongoing! 👇 Watch the real scene where thousands of lives are at risk — where is the safety? 😢 Horrific scenes from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport!” Text over the video also reads, “Terrible fire at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.”
Keyframe searches of the video led to multiple media reports published by Dismislab and others (1, 2, 3). The first one and a half minutes of the circulated clip match those reports exactly. According to U.S.-based CBS News, the footage shows the aftermath of a July 26 incident at Denver International Airport. Around 2:45 p.m. local time, the landing gear of an American Airlines plane caught fire.
The plane, American Airlines Flight 3023, was preparing to depart Denver for Miami International Airport when the fire broke out on the runway. The airline told CBS News that all 173 passengers and six crew members safely evacuated. CBS News also spoke with the passenger who filmed the video, Mark Surkis.
In short, the first part of the video claimed to show rescues at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport actually comes from the Denver airport fire. It has no connection to the recent blaze at the cargo village of Shahjalal International Airport.
On October 18, a fire broke out at the cargo village complex building of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, injuring 35 people. It took about six and a half hours to bring the blaze under control.
Disclaimer: The original version of this fact-check report was published in Bengali on Dismislab’s Bengali website on October 19, 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.
