Video of a post office on fire in the Philippines misrepresented as library in France during riots

CLAIM: A video shows a major library in France burning during riots sparked by the killing of a teen by police.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. While the façade of a library in Marseille was reportedly vandalized during the unrest, the widely shared video shows the fiery destruction of a historic post office in the Philippines in May.

THE FACTS: Social media users are claiming a video shows a storied library in France set ablaze by rioters during the European nation’s unrest following the police killing of a 17-year-old.

The dramatic aerial footage shows a massive structure with Roman-style columns along the water fully engulfed in flames.

Some on social media claimed the building was the National Library in Paris, while others suggested it was a landmark library in the port city of Marseille.

“France’s national library being culturally enriched,” wrote one user on Instagram who shared the video. “How do you feel about the arson attack on the Bibliothèque nationale de France?”

“Now this is tragic. I’m truly shocked and can’t comprehend this. The biggest library in France (in Marseille) burnt down by rioters,” wrote a Twitter user who also shared the video. “Tragic. Horrible. Disgusting. Is it really about a kid shot by police?”

The video isn’t from France but half a world away in the Philippines.

The footage shows a massive fire that tore through the country’s Central Post Office in the capital city of Manila on May 22.

News reports at the time, including from The Associated Press, feature similar video clips of the classically-designed building on the water’s edge with flames and dark billowy smoke pouring out.

Spokespersons for Manila’s Public Information Office, which provided the aerial footage to the AP, confirmed the video being widely shared showed the Central Post Office burning in May. Elodie Vincent, a spokesperson for France’s National Library, also confirmed in an email that the Parisian library was unharmed during the unrest.

What’s more, the exteriors and locations of the two French libraries referenced in social media posts are vastly different from that of the five-story Manila post office, which sits along the banks of the Pasig River.

France’s National Library is a lower slung building built in the Beaux Arts style that’s located a few blocks away from the Seine, near the Jardin du Palais Royal.

The Alcazar Library is similarly located blocks away from the waterfront, in Marseille’s central commercial district.

Its distinctive orange entryway pays homage to the namesake theater once located on the site. The library reopened Tuesday after its front windows were shattered and entry vandalized by rioters, according to local news reports.

As for the blaze in the Philippines, officials at the time said the fire started in the basement of the 100-year-old structure and raged for several hours before being brought under control.

The Philippine Postal Corporation, which was housed in the building along with the country’s main mail-sorting and distribution operations, has said the historic building will be restored.
___

This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.