Are these people lining up to buy a portable air conditioner?
A compilation of photos depicting a crowd of people gathered in a mall and people fainting was posted on a Facebook page recently. It was attached with a claim stating that it happened and was taken from Aeon Mall and linked to a portable air conditioner. This claim has been received with mixed comments and shared by many Facebook users who speak Khmer. However, after checking the Google Reverse Image search, it proves that the claim attached to the photos above was false.
This is about our investigation of this claim.
Social Media Claim
On November 22, 2022, one of the Facebook pages called “China Nolove” posted a couple of photos which show scenes of people queuing in a mall and fainting. The images were attached to a post claiming to be the scene and incident in Aeon Mall Phnom Penh.
The same Facebook page also added that the reason was due to queuing for hours to buy a portable air conditioner. Social media users have shared this claim many times, along with comments and mixed reactions.
The following screenshot was captured from the Facebook page above that read in Khmer and translated into English: “Many people fainted due to queuing to buy small air conditioners of Japan at AEON Mall Phnom Penh yesterday”.
Fact Check
Fact Crescendo Cambodia started to check the above video through Google Reverse Image Search, which led us to find the truth.
An exact photo showing the crowd was found and posted on Aeon Mall Tan Phu's official Facebook page, published on August 22, 2019. This post has confirmed that this is a view of people queuing up during the official launch of one of H&M’s clothing stores in Vietnam.
The following is an image from the Facebook page above, written in Vietnamese or translated into English as “The overview of the official grand opening of H&M clothing store”.
Below is another image from H&M's Facebook page that shows many people standing in line on the grand opening day of the H&M clothing store at Aeon Tan Phu Celadon in Vietnam.
The Fact Crescendo Cambodia team also verified similar cases in September 2022. The details can be found here “A Fainting Man at Phnom Penh Airport Falsely Linked to Aeon Mall”.
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You may find the details of this fact-check in Khmer language here as well.
Conclusion
Fact Crescendo Cambodia found that the claim attached to the above photos is false. These photos show the people lining up for the grand opening of the H&M store at Aeon Mall Tan Phu Celadon in Vietnam.
Title:Are these people lining up to buy a portable air conditioner?
Fact Check By: Kakada SimResult: False
