Claim: A video shows a recent fire that broke out on a train going from Karachi to Lahore, in which five people were killed.
Fact: No such incident has been reported this year. The video in the claim is from October 2019, when a passenger train, Tezgam, travelling from Karachi to Rawalpindi, caught fire after a gas cylinder exploded.
Tezgam is a passenger train that runs from Karachi to Rawalpindi and was launched in the 1950s.
On 9 February, a Threads user posted a video (archive) apparently showing a train accident and the carriages on fire. The caption says: “Liaquatpur Tanwari Station number 6 near Chenigoth, a fire broke out in the train carriages, five people were killed and many were injured. The train was going from Karachi to Lahore.” Liaquatpur Tanwari Station is located near Chani Goth village in Punjab province.
Soch Fact Check could not determine why this video went viral on social media. However, its wide circulation on social media platforms in February 2025 suggests that users spread misinformation about an incident that never occurred this year.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched keyframes from the video and found that it is from five years ago.
The BBC’s November 2019 report “Pakistan train fire: Karachi to Rawalpindi service blaze kills dozens” includes an image further down in the article that matches keyframes from the claim’s footage. This train service, called Tezgam Express, was travelling from Karachi to Rawalpindi when an explosion set three carriages on fire near Rahim Yar Khan in South Punjab. A gas cylinder, which passengers used to make breakfast, caused the explosion. The incident killed at least 70 passengers.
In fact, The Guardian’s article “Pakistan train fire: at least 70 dead after gas explosion” from October 2019 carries the video from the claim, confirming that it is from five years ago.
The New York Times also reported on the explosion in October 2019. Here, the first seven seconds of the NYT’s video report include close-up visuals of fire engulfing the carriage that are similar to what we see in the video in the claim.
Furthermore, Soch Fact Check conducted keyword searches but found no news reports about train accidents involving carriages catching fire in 2025. However, according to news reports, a Karachi-bound Tezgam train’s carriage caught fire in December 2024, but no casualties were reported.
According to AFP, which also debunked this video, a Pakistan Railways Spokesman Babar Ali Raza confirmed that the video shows an incident that took place in 2019 and said that “no fire incident in any train took place in the last year.” However, according to news reports, a Karachi-bound Tezgam train’s carriage caught fire in December 2024, but no casualties were reported.
Therefore, Soch Fact Check concludes that the video of the Tezgam Express accident is from five years ago.
Virality
The video was shared on Threads here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here.
Facebook posts that say the train fire killed five people appeared here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here.
It also appeared on Facebook here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here.
On Instagram, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here.
On TikTok, here and here. It appeared on YouTube here.
Conclusion: The video purportedly showing a train catching fire in February 2025 is from October 2019, when an explosion occurred on a passenger train, and carriages caught fire.
Background image in cover photo: Pakistan Today
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