Fire at Lahore airport? ABP, News18, Financial Express, others publish reports based on video from 2024

A video showing plumes of smoke coming out of vents in the ceiling in a crowded indoor place was widely shared on social media with claims that a fire had broken out at Allama Iqbal International Airport, also known as Lahore International Airport, in Pakistan, on April 26, 2025. Several major news outlets, such as ABP News and Financial Express, also published reports on the incident based on these claims. While there was no apparent link with the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, news outlets and social media users both mentioned the Kashmir incident while sharing details on the airport fire.

ABP News’ report said that a fire at the Lahore International Airport resulted in all flights being cancelled. “According to sources, a Pakistan Army plane was landing at the Lahore airport when one of its tyre caught fire. Fire engines were called at the spot to control the fire. Due to the incident, the runway has been temporarily closed,” the report said.

The fire incident was also reported by News18 and The Financial Express. News18’s report said, “The fire was so terrible that the entire airport system came to a standstill. All flights were canceled, and hundreds of passengers were stranded… Pakistan, which is already struggling with the crisis of terrorism and poverty, has now got a new problem.”

Meanwhile, the Financial Express reported that people present at the airport were clearly struggling due to the smoke, adding that there were no confirmed reports of casualties or significant structural damage. The outlet also highlighted that this was not an isolated incident: “There have been previous reports of fires at the airport, highlighting the country’s poor infrastructure and disregard for security standards. On May 9th last year, a short circuit caused a fire in the ceiling of the immigration counter at Lahore Airport, which disrupted the entire immigration system at the airport.” Jagran also published a similar report.

Meanwhile, an article published by Kalinga TV said, “The rescue team doused the fire after relentless efforts”. Another publication, Organiser, wrote: “While the situation appeared alarming, there have been no immediate reports of injuries or substantial damage beyond the affected area on the runway.” Mint and Lokmat also filed similar reports. Screenshots below:

Click to view slideshow.

Readers must note that all of these reports, even those that cited “sources”, embedded a now-deleted X post. (Archive)

Among social media users, X account @RealBababanaras shared the purported video, claiming that a fire broke out at the Lahore airport “after a missile battery of Air Defence System exploded during installation. 14 Pakistani soldiers died due to this incident.” (Archive) 

MeghUpdates (@MeghUpdates) also amplified the claim with screenshots from a news flash of the incident by ABP News. (Archive)

Other accounts, such as Kabul Frontline (@KabulFrontline) and Rakesh Krishnan Simha (@ByRakeshSimha), also shared the clip and made similar claims. 

The claim was reiterated by several others on X, including @MumbaichaDon, @ssaratht, @seriousfunnyguy, @SaffronSunanda.

Fact Check

We conducted multiple keyword searches to find news reports from local media in Pakistan on the incident, but found none from April 26. However, Alt News came across several news reports from May 9, 2024 on a similar incident.

Among these was one by Pakistan-based Geo News. The report, citing airport authorities, said a fire broke out in the airport’s departure lounge in the morning and was eventually doused after some efforts. Earlier that day, a short circuit in the ceiling of the immigration counters had sparked the initial fire, it said, adding that while the fire was brought under control, thick smoke caused continued disruptions to flight operations, affecting the airport’s immigration systems. The incident had partly disrupted operational flights for Hajj. Another Pakistani news outlet, Dawn had also reported on the incident. 

While investigating, we also came across a video uploaded on the YouTube channel of CNN News18 from May 9, 2024. From the 01:57-minute mark onwards, a similar video but from a slightly different angle is visible. The anchors explain that thick smoke was billowing from the ceiling of the immigration counter. 

While looking for footage from May 9, 2024, we also found a compilation on the fire shared by the X account @OsintTV. The part now viral appears at the 00:47-minute mark.

Below, we have also compared frames from OsintTV’s video (on the left) and the viral footage (on the right).

These findings made it amply clear that the recently circulated video, reported by news outlets, actually refers to last year’s fire incident.

Additionally, on April 27, a report by Gulf News said that the Pakistan Airport Authority (PAA) denied reports that a fire broke out at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International airport on April 26 as claimed on social media. “There has been no incident of fire or any other unpleasant occurrence at the airport on Saturday (April 26),” a PAA spokesperson told the publication.

To sum up, claims that a fire took place at Lahore International Airport on April 26, allegedly because a tyre of a Pakistan Army plane caught fire during landing are false and misleading. The last reported fire incident at the Lahore airport was in May last year, caused by a short circuit. The video clip being circulated online is over a year old and media outlets also amplified misinformation rampant on social media.

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