Clip of aftermath of Philadelphia plane crash widely shared as recent scenes in Pakistan

A clip is being shared on social media with claims it shows scenes from the recent conflict between India and Pakistan, but it’s actually from a plane crash in the US city of Philadelphia earlier this year.

The clip shows several fires burning and debris scattered around buildings and cars with lights from emergency services visible in the distance. Some posts have shared the clip with the caption “Lahore has been destroyed”, while another post claims it shows “Karachi port right now” with overlaid text written in Hindi saying: “Chaos in Pakistan!”. Other fact checkers have reported that the clip’s audio is an “announcement” in Urdu telling people to evacuate, although we have not verified this ourselves.

Both of these Pakistani cities were reportedly targeted by Indian missiles last week with Pakistan’s military claiming to have shot down 29 drones, including over these locations. A ceasefire was agreed by both countries on 10 May.

But this clip predates the recent conflict between India and Pakistan. It actually shows the aftermath of a plane crash in Philadelphia on 31 January 2025 in which eight people were killed.

The same clip was shared on YouTube [24 seconds] on 1 February 2025 with the caption: “Update on the plane that crashed in Philadelphia! What is going on?”. The audio in this video is different to the audio playing over the clips shared on social media, and includes someone speaking in English reporting about the plane crash. Car alarms can also be heard in the original clip, but don’t feature in the posts claiming it shows scenes in Pakistan.

Moreover, the side of a building shown four seconds into the social media clip, with a green facade, can be seen in an aerial photo of the crash site, while a white and blue illuminated sign glimpsed at the end of the social media clip [29 seconds] is also clearly visible in footage of the plane crash in news reports.

The cause of the crash, which reportedly caused a fireball and left a debris field 1,410 feet (430 metres) long and 840 feet (256 metres) wide, is still being investigated.

You can find more of our work debunking misinformation circulating online about the conflict between India and Pakistan, including other miscaptioned videos and images, on our website. It’s important to consider whether something actually shows what the caption claims it does before sharing it online. Our guide to spotting misleading videos can help you do this.