Did Indians or Pakistanis set fire to a church in Wales in April 2025? No, that's not true: In response to widely-shared social media rumors, South Wales Police told Lead Stories there was "no link to India or Pakistan at all" in their investigation into a fire at the Bethany English Calvinistic Methodist Chapel in Port Talbot. Two local teenage boys were arrested on suspicion of arson.
The claims appeared in widely-shared social media posts, including one April 27, 2025, post on X (archived here), which read:
A church in Wales was set on fire by 2 Pakistani migrants.
Christianity under attack in the UK.
This is what it looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot)
A parallel rumor claimed that two named Indian immigrants were, in fact, responsible for the fire. Another April 27 post on X (archived here) wrote:
A church in Wales was set ablaze by two Indian immigrants (Raghav Patel & Rahul Kumar).
Christianity is under attack in the UK.
Both rumors were false.
In an April 28 statement, South Wales Police said they had arrested two local teens in connection with the fire:
Two teens have been arrested following a fire in Port Talbot town centre.
Officers investigating the fire, at Bethany English Calvinistic Methodist Chapel in Station Road last Thursday evening, April 24, arrested the two teenagers on suspicion of arson.
A 14-year-old boy from Sandfields, Neath Port Talbot, and a 15-year-old boy from Bryn, Neath Port Talbot, were arrested on suspicion of arson.
In response to our enquiries, a spokesperson for South Wales Police sent Lead Stories an emailed refutation of the "Pakistani/Indian" rumors highlighted above:
I can confirm that the rumours which were on social media over the weekend are completely false.
There is no link to India or Pakistan at all.
