Claim: A video shows the interior of a flooded shop in Punjab.
Fact: The clip is AI-generated.
On 26 July 2026, an account on X named ‘B@i1’z’ shared a video of a flooded shop. The clip begins with footage of muddy brown water rushing through the store’s entrance and aisles. Plastic bottles and various grocery items can be seen floating while clothing racks, cosmetic display cases, and other shelves in the shop remain partially submerged.
The caption reads:
“پنجاب ترقی کی نہروں میں بہتے ہوئے”
[Translation: Punjab flowing in the canals of development.]
Pakistan monsoon rain
The National Situation Report Monsoon 2026, uploaded on National Disaster Management Authority’s (NDMA) website, states that 109 people lost their lives between 26 June and 27 July 2026 because of heavy rain and floods.
According to the data available in the report, Khyber Pakhtunkwa has recorded the highest number of fatalities, with 55 deaths so far, followed by 36 deaths in Punjab. Most people died due to house collapses and flash floods.
National Situation Report Monsoon 2026 uploaded on NDMA’s website shows data from 26 June till 27 July 2026
Moreover, on 28 July, Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) predicted a fresh spell of monsoon rains from 29 July till 5 August. According to a weather advisory posted on their X account, PMD stated that “rain-wind/thundershowers with scattered heavy to very heavy falls may trigger urban flooding, flash floods & landslides in vulnerable areas.”
Fact or Fiction?
Initially, the filming and the overall pace of the video alerted Soch Fact Check to the fact that the video might be AI-generated as we recognised the following visual discrepancies:
- The camera pans from left to right across the aisles with perfect stabilisation. Assuming that the scenario was recorded by a real person behind the camera, we would expect the actual video to be shaky. A real cameraman standing and recording the scenario knee-deep in a flash flood would be struggling against the kind of heavy currents seen in the video.
- We considered the possibility of the clip being shot with a drone but even so it is unrealistic for a camera to keep filming with uniform frames where all the objects have the same clarity and nothing in the background appears blurry.
- Moreover, the cosmetic shelves and clothing racks seem unaffected; they are seen standing firmly amid harsh currents.
- It is unnatural for water to have a consistent texture throughout the video. This points to the use of AI.
Left: Exhibits point 3 mentioned above, Right: Exhibits point 4 mentioned above.
Soch Fact Check also noticed a Gemini logo in the bottom-right corner of the clip and ran it through Google’s SynthID Detector to detect the watermark embedded in content generated through its AI model.
Gemini logo visible in the bottom-right corner of the clip posted on 26 July 2026.
The tool stated that the clip is “made with Google AI” and detected the watermark in “all or part of the uploaded content.”
Result by SynthD Detector
The visual discrepancies, the Gemini logo, and the strong verdict from Google’s SynthID Detector confirms that the video is AI-generated.
Virality
Soch Fact Check first came across a viral post on X with as many as 85,600 views and 1,300 likes. It was also shared on Facebook and TikTok where it received 7,900 views and 150,800 views, respectively.
Conclusion: The viral video of a flooded shop in Punjab is AI-generated.