These Are Not Oxygen Cylinders That Exploded in Lebanon’s Burj El-Shemali Refugee Camp
The Claim
These are the first photos of the oxygen cylinders that exploded in Burj el-Shemali refugee camp in southern Lebanon.
News posted on
Emerging story
Facebook (now Meta) and Twitter accounts have recently circulated photos alleging they showed the exploded oxygen cylinders stored in a warehouse for COVID-19 patients in Lebanon’s Burj el-Shemali Palestinian refugee camp. The oxygen cylinders’ multiple explosions were reportedly caused by a fire that stretched to the warehouse.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar investigated the circulated claim and found it misleading. While the recent event that rocked the refugee camp is true, the photos shared with the news are outdated; they are cropped from the original images showing the aftermath of a fire that engulfed the Ibn al-Khatib Hospital in Iraq’s capital of Baghdad, according to Reuters and the Associated Press.
Media reports at the time said that an oxygen tank in the intensive care unit, where COVID-19 patients stayed, exploded, leading to fire breaking out and causing dozens of Iraqi casualties.
The claim started to circulate following an explosion in a store in the Palestinian Burj el-Shemali refugee camp, east of the city of Tyre, south of Lebanon. Official sources did not reveal the details of the incident while conflicting narratives are being reported.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese authorities have ordered an investigation into the incident, aided by the explosions unit.
Translated by Ahmed N. A. Almassri
