An image shared on Facebook purportedly shows the crater produced by the massive explosion in the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Aug. 4.
Verdict: False
The photo actually shows the crater from a 2015 explosion in China.
Fact Check:
The claim started circulating after a massive explosion on Aug. 4 rocked Beirut, killing at least 170 people and displacing over 300,000 others from their homes. The deadly blast has been linked to a cache of highly explosive ammonium nitrate stored at the port, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found the photo on the European Pressphoto Agency website. The caption states that it shows an “aerial view of a large hole in the ground in the aftermath of a huge explosion that rocked the port city of Tianjin, China, 15 August 2015.” (RELATED: Image Falsely Links Sam Hyde To Beirut Explosion)
The Tianjin explosion occurred in 2015 after illegally stored ammonium nitrate and other hazardous compounds caught fire in a chemical warehouse, according to BBC News. 173 people, most of them firefighters and police officers, were killed in the blast, The Associated Press reported.
USA Today and CNN published photos of the crater created by the massive explosion in Beirut.
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