The incident took place before Navratri and no temple was set ablaze.The reason for the brawl was a disagreement over a parking space.
A video showing a massive fire whilst people can be seen fighting in front of it is widely circulating on social media. Users claim that the video shows a Hindu temple that has been set ablaze during the festival of Navratri in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
However, Fact Crescendo found that the claim made along with the video is misleading and false.
The caption of the viral video states that “Birmingham temple burnt by Muslim during Navratri. Hindus beaten up England police ineffective in Saving Hindus”
Fact Check-
We started our investigation by carefully observing the viral video, we found a board with “SM VAPES” written on it. Upon a Google search, we found it is a in store shopping centre in Pelham, Birmingham at UK.
You can see the same shop on street view on Google Maps below. SM Vapes is located on 813, Alum Rock road, Pelham, Birmingham in United Kingdom.
Next, keeping the above information in mind, we ran a keyword search on Google which led us to news reports about this incident. According to the reports, a massive blaze broke out at a Birmingham supermarket. More than 70 firefighters were at the scene at the height of the blaze, which began at around 6.45pm.
The West Midlands Fire Service said the blaze spread to flats above the supermarket and there were multiple road closures, but no-one was believed to have been hurt. St Agathas Road, Alum Rock railway bridge, Woodhall Road, Bankdale Road, Thornton Road, Washwood Heath Road, Chetwyn Road, Alum Rock Road and Beanie Lane were closed, although there were plans to reopen some routes this morning. The cause of the blaze was not known. Residents were asked to keep doors and windows closed. This incident took place on 19 September 2022. You can read the reports here and here.
We found that the West Midlands Police replied to a user on Twitter who posted the viral video with the same claim. They stated that the video shows a fire at a supermarket in Birmingham on 19 September which was caused accidentally when a rubbish fire spread to the building.
When a user asked why the people in the video were fighting, West Midlands Police responded that the fight was related to a parking issue with some cars and that it was an isolated incident.
West Midlands Fire Services also issued a tweet after the investigation closed, stating that the fire had started accidentally. This clearly means that the fire was not intentionally initiated nor was it a communally motivated incident. The tweet also clearly mentions that the fire broke out at a supermarket and not in a temple.
Conclusion-
Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the viral video to be False. The video has been falsely shared a communal claim. The incident took place in Birmingham on 19 September 2022. The fire originally broke out in a supermarket and not a temple in Navratri. The incident took place before Navratri. The fight broke out due to a disagreement over a parking space and not due to any communal violence.
Title:Video of a fire at a supermarket in UK falsely shared as Hindu temple set ablaze
Fact Check By: Drabanti Ghosh
Result: False
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