Viral Fire Video Misidentified as Belfast Riot Footage Actually Shows Gas Pipeline Explosion in Russia's Dagestan

A video circulating widely on social media on June 9, 2026, purported to show fires raging in Belfast, Northern Ireland, amid violent anti-immigration protests. The claim, however, is false. The footage actually documents a gas pipeline explosion near the town of Kizilyurt in Russia's Dagestan region that occurred on the same day.

The original video, posted by local authorities on Telegram and later covered by Reuters and Russia's TASS, shows a series of blasts along a pipeline. In the version that went viral, the natural sound of the explosion was replaced with fabricated chanting, giving the false impression of a mob setting fires in Belfast. The altered audio was likely generated or manipulated using AI tools, according to digital forensic analysis.

The false narrative emerged shortly after reports of an attempted stabbing in Belfast that same day, which sparked real anti-immigrant demonstrations. By attaching a dramatic but unrelated video to those protests, the misinformation sought to amplify tensions and suggest a far more violent situation than actually occurred. Such fabrications can fuel social unrest and undermine trust in news reporting, especially in politically sensitive regions like Northern Ireland.

This type of content manipulation — taking real footage of a disaster elsewhere and recontextualizing it with fabricated audio — has become increasingly common as AI tools become more accessible. Media literacy and cross-referencing with credible sources remain essential for avoiding deception.