Following the terrible news of two fires and an explosion this Tuesday, a concerning photograph of a distant ship off the coast of Dbayeh – Lebanon was circulating the internet.
Claim: The ship in the photograph, a container ship, was on fire. The photograph showed smoke above what looked like bright flames…
Verdict: No, there was no fire. It was just a bad quality image.
Context: Soon better images/footage were being shared proving that the smoke was from the engine and the bright “flames” were actually the ship’s lights.
The General Directorate of Civil Defense at the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities issued a statement saying that the news being shared on social media about the ship was false.
“The Maritime Rescue Unit in the Civil Defense conducted a comprehensive marine survey along the beach from Jounieh to Dbayeh, and it was found that there was no fire,” said the statement.
The Lebanese Internal Security Forces also made a statement saying that the news was fake.
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