A post has gone viral on social media falsely claiming that a “joint Indo-Israeli drone manufacturing center” in Delhi was attacked and destroyed in a massive explosion amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East sparked by the US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.
This false claim was shared on social media along with a video of a fire at the fish market in Uttam Nagar in Delhi. The video showed a huge fire and thick smoke. Several accounts shared the post, which claimed that a joint Indo-Israeli drone manufacturing center in Delhi had been attacked, leading to an explosion and fire.
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The misleading posts also claimed that about 50 workers, including Indians and Israelis, may have been killed in the incident, although they did not provide any evidence to support this claim.
Zabihullah Mohajer’s post read: “According to reports, a joint Indian and Israeli drone manufacturing center in Delhi, India, was attacked, leading to an explosion and fire. Sources say that in this incident, around 50 workers, including Indians and Israelis, may have been killed.”
Fact check
However, the video circulating online is actually footage of a massive fire that broke out at Machhli Mandi (fish market) in Delhi’s Uttam Nagar area on March 11.
According to officials, the fire broke out late at night in Matiala village in Uttam Nagar when vendors were packing up their stalls. The Delhi Fire Service received information about the fire around 11:50 pm and sent several fire engines to the site.
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The fire quickly spread to neighboring slums, damaging a large number of homes in the area. Officials said that about 23 fire engines were deployed to control the blaze, which was brought under control after several hours of firefighting operations early Thursday morning. The fire damaged about 300 to 400 slum dwellings in the area, according to the Delhi Fire Service.
The authorities said that there were no reports of casualties in the accident, and investigations are still underway to determine the causes of the fire.
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The fact-check comes amid rising tensions in the West Asia region, where numerous misleading posts and videos related to military attacks and explosions have been circulating online.
(With PTI and ANI inputs)
