Claim: Videos and pictures show the Eiffel Tower on fire.
Fact: The videos and images are fake and made with VFX editing. The Eiffel Tower never caught fire.
Several posts of the Eiffel Tower on fire have gone viral on social media. On 18 January 2023, TikTok user @kazakhstandazhasalgan posted images of the Eiffel Tower on fire with emergency workers and crowds on the ground watching. The post garnered 203.4 million views and 13.4 million likes. Another viral post of the Eiffel Tower burning was a video posted by @rastgele_ritm on 21 January which garnered 9.3 million views and 191.5 thousand likes.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check conducted a reverse image search of the images posted by @kazakhstandazhasalgan. However, there seems to be no information available which details the origins of these photos.
When we searched through @kazakhstandazhasalgan’s TikTok account for any information regarding the origin of these photos, we found a TikTok reel posted on 26 January posted by @kazakhstandazhasalgan which included the same images of the Eiffel Tower burning. The caption of this post says, “❌FAKE SITUATION❌”.
We also noted that the account @kazakhstandazhasalgan typically posts various AI art depicting the Eiffel Tower on fire. It also shows other famous monuments, such as the Louvre Pyramid on fire.
Soch Fact Check conducted a reverse image search of the video of the Eiffel Tower burning which led us to a video posted six months ago by the YouTube account, Augmented One. The video appears to be one of many videos posted by this account displaying VFX art. The account’s biography states, “Այս Youtube – յան ալիքի նպատակն է մատուցել խորը տեխնիկական գիտելք 3Դ դիզայնի և վիզուալ էֆեկտների ոլորտում հայ հանդիսատեսին. Ալիքը ստեղծված է Գոռ Առաքելյանի կողմից և հանդիսանում է ”Աուգմենթիդ Ուոն” ընկերության սեփականություն.”
[The goal of this YouTube channel is to provide in-depth technical knowledge in the field of 3D design and visual effects to the Armenian audience. The channel was created by Gor Arakelyan and is the property of “Augmented One” company.]
The video of the Eiffel Tower burning seems to be one among many burning videos. The user has also created VFX art of the Kremlin burning in Moscow, an Opera House burning, and a car on fire. Additionally, under the video of the Eiffel Tower burning, Augmented One posted and pinned a comment that says, “To all the viewers, this is VFX (visual effects).”
For further confirmation, we searched all news related to the Eiffel Tower for January 2024. Our search yielded no results regarding any reports of the Eiffel Tower being on fire. The Eiffel Tower’s official website and Twitter account also have no posts or press releases that announce a fire engulfing the tower. Therefore Soch Fact Check concludes that this news is false.
Virality
The TikTok videos of the fire were posted here and here and garnered over 200 million views and over 10 million likes.
Conclusion: The Eiffel Tower did not catch fire. The images and videos of the Eiffel Tower on fire are fake and made using VFX and AI art.
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