Does a viral video show an explosion that is possibly a tactical nuclear weapon being used in the 2025 conflict between India and Pakistan? No, that's not true: The footage showing a huge explosion almost engulfing two tall buildings and a construction crane at night was originally filmed in China in 2015. It showed an industrial accident in Tianjin, China.
The footage re-appeared in a post on X (archived here) published on May 7, 2025 with a description that read:
TACTICAL NUKES IN PLAY !!!!!!!!!!! CURRENTLY UNCONFIRMED !!!!!!!!! #IndiaPakistan 🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ WORLD WAR 4 !!!!!!!!!!!
However the footage in question has been online since August 2015, for example here on the YouTube channel of the BBC (archived here).
The video was described by the BBC as:
Footage of two massive explosions in the Chinese city of Tianjin, taken by a stunned eyewitness, captured the fear and terror of those who saw what happened. Dozens of people died and hundreds were injured when a warehouse owned by a company specialising in handling hazardous goods caught fire and exploded. City officials say they still did not know what materials were at the warehouse at the time of the fire, or what caused the blasts. Eyewitness Dan van Duren filmed the moment of the explosions, before he and others fled to avoid the danger.
The same explosion has been mischaracterized on several other occasions in the past, as Lead Stories wrote here, here and here.
