Scotland fire footage misrepresented as South Korea factory blaze

Footage depicting large plumes of smoke from a residential area in Scotland was falsely shared on social media as part of a video compilation about a deadly fire that razed a battery plant in South Korea. While AFP found one of the clips in the compilation did show the massive blaze, the other video was filmed in Renfrewshire in Scotland.

"South Korea: Time 10.31am, 24.6.2024, fire at battery factory. 16 people dead, 6 more missing," read the Thai language post on Facebook on June 24.

"Fire at battery maker Aricell in Hwaseong. The fire started after multiple batteries exploded inside the warehouse," the caption continued.

AFP reported that 23 people were killed in a massive fire at a South Korean lithium battery factory. The incident is one of the country's worst factory disasters in years.

The video in the post included two clips. The first showed a large plume of smoke rising behind houses, while the second featured a red ambulance on a road with an explosion seen in the background. 

The clip also shows a watermark that read "World Forum", a Facebook page which has previously shared misinformation in Thailand.

Similar claims also circulated elsewhere on Facebook in Thai here and here.

The screenshot of the video also appeared alongside the same claim in other languages such as Italian, Turkish and Spanish.

But the video in fact shows a fire in Scotland.

Blaze in Scotland 

A reverse image search of the first clip's keyframe on Google found a video posted on social media platform X on June 24, 2024 (archived link).

"There's been an explosion at Enva in Linwood", read the video's caption.

The BBC and Glasgow Times reported that a large blaze broke out at Linwood Industrial Estate in Paisley, a town in Renfrewshire, Scotland on the evening of June 23 (archived links here and here).

The fire broke out at the Enva electronic waste facility based within the estate. Enva issued a statement on June 25 where it offered its "sincere apology for any inconvenience caused by the incident" (archived link).

AFP geolocated the place seen in the clip on Google Earth and found it matched a residential area in Ritchie Park, which is located about 590 metres away from the Enva waste recycling facility where the fire took place (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison between the clip in the misleading post (left) and the 2021 Google Earth street view imagery of the residential area in Ritchie Park (right), with similar elements highlighted by AFP:

South Korea fire

The second clip in the video compilation showed the fire in the lithium battery plant in South Korea.

Reverse image and keyword searches on Google led to a similar clip shared on X on June 24 with the caption "Hwaseong lithium battery factory fire" (archived link).

Radio Free Asia also included the same clip in a news report on June 24 (archived link).

"A deadly fire broke out at a #lithium battery factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi province on Monday (June 24), resulting in at least 22 people killed and eight injured, with one missing," read the caption in traditional Chinese.

It was later reported that 23 people have been confirmed dead, mostly Chinese nationals.

AFP geolocated the area seen in the clip on Naver Map and found the same building with the prominent glass exterior and the smaller structure behind it (archived link).

Below is the screenshot comparison of the clip in the post with the misleading claim (left) and the street view of the lithium battery factory on Naver Map, with similar elements highlighted by AFP (right):

AFP has previously debunked misinformation related to the South Korea factory fire here.