Written by The Banking Post
Recently, on October 18, a fire broke out at the cargo village of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. Some people alleged that fire service vehicles entered the scene late. However, the airport’s Executive Director, Group Captain S. M. Ragib Samad, denied this allegation.
In the aftermath of the incident, a photo card bearing the logo of private television channel Channel i was circulated on social media with the headline, “Army Chief Waker Uz Zaman called the fire service to stop extinguishing the fire.” The photo card also included an image of the Army Chief alongside a picture of the fire at the airport’s cargo village.
Fact-check
Rumor Scanner’s investigation found that Channel i did not publish any news claiming that Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman had called the fire service instructing them not to extinguish the airport fire. Instead, the fake photo card was created using digital technology to imitate Channel i’s design.
At the beginning of the investigation, upon examining the circulated photo card, it was observed that it contained Channel i’s logo. However, after reviewing the news posts and photo cards published on Channel i’s verified Facebook page, no report or photo card with such a headline was found. Similarly, no related news or photo card supporting the claim was found on the outlet’s website or YouTube channel.
In addition, there are noticeable differences between the design and font used in Channel i’s authentic photo cards and those used in the fabricated one.
No other media outlet, apart from Channel i, has published any report or photo card supporting the discussed claim.
Therefore, the photo card circulated in the name of Channel i with the headline “Army Chief Waker Uz Zaman called the fire service to stop extinguishing the fire” is completely fake and fabricated.
Sources:
- Channel i – Facebook Page
- Bdnews24: Did the fire service vehicles enter late at Shahjalal?
- The Business Standard (TBS): Dhaka airport fire: Businesses fear over $1b impact on imports, exports
- Rumor Scanner’s Own Analysis
