Claim: A video shows the Swedish presidential palace on fire after the incident of the Holy Quran burning in Sweden.
Fact: The clip is not from Sweden. It shows the Manila Central Post Office in the Philippines, engulfed in fire in May 2023.
Sweden has faced condemnations from Muslim countries for permitting an Iraqi refugee, Salwan Momika, to go ahead with the second planned burning of Islam’s holy book in front of the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm on 20 July 2023. While protesters partially damaged a book they said was the Quran, they did not burn it as they had threatened to do, according to a report by Al Jazeera.
During Eid-ul Azha, Salwan also burned pages of a copy of the Quran in front of Stockholm’s largest mosque on 28 June 2023.
Fact or Fiction?
On 10 July 2023, Facebook user Saif Mekan posted a video claiming that it shows Stockholm Palace on fire following a recent Quran-burning protest.
The video is accompanied by the caption:
“سویڈن کا صدارتی محل میں آگ لگ گئی
الاسلام زندہ آباد القرآن زندہ آباد بے شک میرا اللہ بہترین بدلہ لینے والا ہے
[A fire broke out in Sweden’s presidential palace
Long live Islam. Long live Quran. Indeed, my Allah is the best avenger]”
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched some keyframes from the video and found similar photos were carried in a 22 May 2023 article by The Independent titled, “Fire destroys main post office in Philippine capital, a nearly 100-year-old neoclassical landmark.”
The article states that flames engulfed the Manila Central Post Office.
Reuters, Sky News, and Inquirer.net — an online news and information website for Filipinos worldwide — also reported on the incident and posted the original clip on its website, Twitter and YouTube, respectively.
Virality
The claim was posted here, here, here, here and here on Twitter.
On YouTube, the video was posted here and here with an Arabic title that translates to “After burning the Qur’an – the burning of the presidential palace in Sweden” in English.
The claim was also shared on Facebook; here, here, here and here.
Conclusion: The video shows a post office building on fire in Manila, Philippines. It is not from Sweden.
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