Footage of fire incident in Karachi falsely linked to BLA's train hijacking
The Verdict [False]
The viral video shows a fire incident in Karachi and is unrelated to the recent BLA train attack.
What is the claim?
Social media users have circulated a video depicting a fire raging across a large area with claims that it shows scenes from the recent attack and hijacking of a passenger train by the separatist group Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).
The viral claim surfaced on social media platforms such as YouTube, X, and Instagram after BLA attacked and hijacked the Jaffar Express train, which was traveling from Quetta to Peshawar on March 11, 2025.
Some of these videos also have text overlaid that reads, “Pakistan Train Hijack: Baloch militants seize Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express, hold 450 passengers hostage.”
An X user shared the video and wrote, “Baloch Liberation Army hijacked Jaffar Express going from Quetta to Peshawar in Pakistan More than 400 passengers were on the train BLA said that if Pakistan takes military action, they will kill all the passengers #TrainHijack #Balochistan #Pakistan (sic).” At the time of writing this story, a similar post on X had amassed over 378,000 views and more than 2,100 likes.
Archived versions of this and other posts can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Screenshots of similar viral social media posts. (Source: X/Instagram/YouTube/Modified by Logically Facts)
However, we found that the video is from a fire incident in Karachi and is unrelated to the recent BLA train attack.
What are the facts?
We conducted a reverse image search on one of the viral video's keyframes and found multiple identical videos reporting a recent fire incident in Karachi.
An Instagram video (archived here) uploaded by Geo News English on March 10, 2025, featured identical visuals to those of the viral video. This video was captioned, "A fire broke out near Mir Chakar area in Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Maymar on Monday. The cause of the blaze remains unknown. #GeoNews #Karachi."
View this post on Instagram
At the timestamp of 20 seconds of the viral video, a similar shed, a tree on the left side, and a steel sitting table can be observed at the 0:07 timestamp in the Geo News English video. The surrounding visuals and elements confirm that the viral video originates from Karachi, not the recent train attack site.
Similarities between the viral and Geo News video. (Source: X/Instagram/Geo News/Modified by Logically Facts)
With the help of keyword searches, we found multiple news reports that featured visuals identical to those in the viral video (archived here and here). According to these reports, on March 10, 2025, a fire erupted near the Karachi Super Highway, which subsequently spread to the nearby timber shops and engulfed the entire market near the Maymar Mor area (archived here).
Furthermore, no news reports linked the Karachi fire incident to the recent BLA passenger train attack.
The verdict
A video of a fire incident at a market in Karachi has been falsely shared as scenes from the recent passenger train attack by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).
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Former Aussie spinner MacGill convicted in cocaine case
Sydney, Mar 13 (PTI): Former Australian spinner Stuart MacGill was found guilty of involvement in a cocaine deal on Thursday, but cleared of participating in large-scale drug supply.
A Sydney District Court jury acquitted the 54-year-old leg-spinner of facilitating a one-kg cocaine deal worth AUD 330,000 in April 2021.
However, he was convicted of the charge of taking part in drug supply.
MacGill, who played 44 Tests for Australia, "showed little emotion" as the verdict was read, according to a reports in Australian media.
Hearing of his sentence was adjourned for eight weeks.
The court heard that MacGill introduced his regular drug dealer to his brother-in-law, Marino Sotiropoulos, at a meeting under his restaurant on Sydney’s north shore.
While he denied knowledge of the transaction, prosecutors argued the deal could not have taken place without his involvement.
