An Old Video of Fishes Reeling a Supermarket Falsely Linked to Dubai’s Flood

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was hit by heavy downpours of rain last week, causing flood in several cities including Dubai. Then, a viral claim circulating on social media said many alive sharks were left in a supermarket in Dubai after the flood in the city faded away. The claim has been widely shared along with reactions and many comments. However, running a Google Reverse Image Search proves the claim was false.

SOCIAL MEDIA CLAIM

A Facebook post that has gone viral on social media in recent days said many alive sharks were found in a supermarket in Dubai of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after the flood hit the city faded away.

The post came with a combination of photos showing many fishes reeling on the floor of a supermarket where a lot of goods on shelves can be seen.

The claim has been shared nearly 200 times over the last three days, and many Khmer-speaking social media users expressed their comments on the post, believing it was true.

Below is the capture of the viral claim circulated on social media on April 21, 2024, saying “Dubai City: After the flood faded away, there are many sharks left in marts in the city.”

Facebook Post | Archived Link

The same claim has been circulated on social media platforms by other Facebook users. Please see the post here (archived) or another post here (archived).

FACT CHECK

Fact Crescendo Cambodia began debunking the claim mentioned above by running a Google Reverse Image Search which led us to find out the facts below.

By running the reverse image search, we found the video of fish reeling on the floor of a supermarket which was uploaded on a YouTube channel more than 6 years ago.

The YouTube channel said the incident happened in a Carrefour supermarket in Tbilisi, Georgia, in early 2018 after an aquarium was broken.

Watch the full video below which was uploaded on YouTube on February 03, 2018.

Archived

Because the video was viral at the time, it was also reported by the U.K.-based media outlets. See the full story here (archived) and another one here (archived).

Some social media users uploaded this video on social media platforms with false captions linked to floods in some Asian countries like India. Fact Crescendo already debunked the claim. See the full story here.

CONCLUSION

Fact Crescendo Cambodia found out the claim mentioned earlier is false. The pictures of fish reeling in a supermarket were not what happened in Dubai City after the flood. The pictures were captured from a video of fish reeling in a supermarket in Tbilisi, Georgia, in early 2018.