Did ‘Suicide Bomber’s’ Belt Go Off During His Funeral Procession?

The viral video misrepresents the funeral of a Syrian opposition member as that of a suicide bomber’s.

Screenshot of the funeral procession prior to the explosion. 

(Photo: Altered by the Quint)

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CLAIM

A video has surfaced on social media that shows an explosion taking place at a funeral procession. Its captions claim that it was the funeral of a suicide bomber, killed by Israeli forces, and that the pallbearers were oblivious of the suicide belt was still tied to the bomber.

The message with the video claims that the explosion, which takes place as the funeral procession proceeds, was caused by the belt on the bomber’s body.

The video is doing the rounds on Facebook with similar captions.

The video circulating on Facebook. 

TRUE OR FALSE?

The claims made are false. The funeral was not that of a suicide bomber and the explosion was not caused by a bomber’s belt attached to the body.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

On doing a key-frame break up of a YouTube video of the same incident and running a reverse image search using the Google Chrome extension, InVid, The Quint traced the video back to footage on NBC. The website reported the incident as an explosion that took place at a funeral in Damascus in July 2012.

Screenshot of the NBC news website page that covers the story. NBC website

Using a subsequent keyword search, The Quint found a CNN article that describes the events of the video.

CNN identifies the large funeral procession to be that of a man who had allegedly been killed by government forces. The body is shrouded in a Syrian revolutionary flag. The funeral procession makes its way through a Damascus suburb, as people in procession chant anti-government slogans.

The explosion was allegedly due to a government-organised car bombing. Around 85 people were killed in the explosion, say reports. Victims of the explosion can be heard shouting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is great") post the explosion.

It should, however, be noted that CNN cannot independently confirm the reports of casualties or violence because Syria restricts access by international journalists.

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