Viral video of Karachi Port destroyed by Indian navy

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team investigated this content and determined that it is false.

To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan conducted a reverse image search to find the original video.

Posts on multiple social media platforms from Indian users on May 8, 2025, shared a video claiming to show the destruction of Karachi Port following an attack by the Indian navy amid their recent escalation. However, the footage dates back to January 2025 from a plane crash in Philadelphia.

On May 7, Pakistan mourned the loss of 31 lives in overnight attacks by Indian forces on civilians, describing New Delhi’s actions as “terrorism” and accusing it of continuous ceasefire violations on the Line of Control.

The Pakistan military termed the downing of five Indian fighter jets as a major victory — and it was seemingly acknowledged when Indian officials admitted that at least three of their aircraft had “crashed” within their territory.

As both countries continued to trade heavy artillery fire, authorities revealed the extent of the damage caused by Indian strikes at six locations — Ahmedpur East, Muridke, Sialkot and Shakkargarh in Punjab and Muzaffarabad and Kotli in Azad Kashmir.

Since the breakdown in ties after the Pahalgam incident, the Indian mainstream and social media outlets have been spreading propaganda against Pakistan.

HOW IT STARTED

On May 8, an Indian account shared a nighttime video depicting a devastated street scene, with debris strewn across the wet ground and a vehicle in the background engulfed in flames. Overlaid text in Urdu read: “Look at the state of Pakistan.” In the background, a precautionary audio announcement urged people to relocate to a safer area.

The post was captioned: “Indian Navy has destroyed Karachi Port.”

It gained 2.9 million views.

Other Indian users shared the same claim here, here, and here racking up 1m, 139,000 and 67,800 views respectively.

The alleged incident was also run on Indian media channel Zee News as breaking news.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its high virality and intense public interest in the Pakistan-India military escalation.

A reverse image search conducted to investigate the clip yielded a video on YouTube dated February 2, 2025, titled, “More footage of the Philadelphia plane crash.”

The post featured the same viral video; however, did not contain the same audio.

A keyword search for “Philadelphia plane crash” around the corresponding date yielded a news report from British news outlet BBC from February 2, 2025, titled “Mother and child among seven killed in Philadelphia medical jet crash.”

According to the report, a medical transport plane crashed into several buildings in the US city of Philadelphia just one minute after takeoff on January 31, killing all six people on board and at least one other person on the ground.

The jet was headed to Tijuana, Mexico on a medical transport trip, carrying a child patient and her mother, along with two pilots, a doctor and paramedic.

Additionally, no reports about the destruction of Karachi sea port were reported by Pakistani media outlets.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

Therefore, the fact-check determined that the claim that a viral video shows an Indian attack at Karachi Port is false.

The video is old from January 2025 and shows the aftermath of a plane crash in the US city of Philadelphia.

MULTIPLE CLAIMS

At the same time, iVerify Pakistan observed multiple other claims regarding the Pakistan-India escalation. Here are more claims that were debunked by the platform.

Video of DG ISPR admitting Pakistan lost two JF-17 aircrafts – FALSE

On May 8, an Indian account shared a video of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry conducting a press briefing in which he admitted that Pakistan lost two JF-17 aircrafts in retaliation against India’s “Operation Sindoor”.

In the video, the DG ISPR can be heard saying, “The operation saw intense engagement along the Eastern corridor. We regret to confirm that two JF-17 aircraft were lost during active duty.”

The user wrote in the caption, “Big breaking Pakistan confirms loss of two JF-17s and 1 F-16 to Indian SAMs.”

The post received 327,100 views. The same video with a similar claim was shared by several other accounts here, here and here.

Analysing the audio of the footage and comparing it with DG ISPR’s original press conferences in the past, a monotonous and robot-like tone was observed. Deepfake detectors such as Hive and Attestive showed results of the audio likely to be 99 per cent AI-generated and a 91pc suspicion rating, respectively.

Moreover, there are no confirmed reports of Pakistan losing two JF-17 jets nor the DG ISPR made any such statement during the Pak-India tensions.

Information Minister Ataullah Tarar also rubbished the claim in an X post dated May 8 saying, “Absurd and false claims being made by India about shooting down F16 and JF17 fighter jets. Fake and concocted stories will get you nowhere. Such false claims only reflect your desperation. Denied and rejected.”

Picture of captured Pakistani pilot – FALSE

On May 8, an image was shared on X by an Indian user, showing a group of individuals, likely military personnel or security forces, standing together in the dark. The post was captioned: “Breaking: Indian Army captured Pakistani pilot.”

The post was viewed by more than 98,000 people.

The same image, along with the same claim, was circulated by several other Indian users on X as can be seen here, here, here, here, here and here. These posts collectively garnered more than 62,000 views.

The claim also circulated on Facebook here and on Instagram here, here and here.

A reverse image search led to a website of Getty Images, where the same image was uploaded on December 12, 2016.

The caption of the image said: “Turkish military personnel arrive near a Turkish F-16 warplane which crashed in Diyarbakir on December 12, 2016. A Turkish fighter jet crashed near an airport in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, the military said, but the pilot was able to safely eject from the plane. The cause of the crash was not immediately known, but the government said an investigation had been launched.”

At the end of the text, the photo credit and source was also mentioned to Ilyas Akengin for AFP.

Evidence and References

February 2, 2025, YouTube video:
https://youtu.be/RqG1BEE8L-c?si=7s34GfYlYsEpicO8

February 2, 2025, BBC report:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqG1BEE8L-c&ab_channel=TheTruthLies