At the beginning of July 2023, a recording was circulated on social networks, allegedly depicting a fire in the library of Marseille. The building was reportedly set on fire by migrants during a protest. We have checked whether this description matches what is shown in the video.
The 11-second video went viral on July 4th. It shows a building burning and screams can be heard in the background. Most often, the video is accompanied by the following caption: “The largest library in France was set on fire in Marseille.” For example, similar posts appeared in Telegram channels “Uncle Slava"(182,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), Voblya (171,000), "First People's"(147,000), "Sheikh Tamir"(123,000; post deleted), "Tough of the day"(90,000), "Russia now" (57,000) and "Coachman"(38,000). Some authors add This is the accompanying text: “The Alcazar Library collection consisted of almost a million documents, 350,000 of which were in the public domain. In particular, medieval manuscripts and unique publications, works of great thinkers and philosophers were kept here.”
It is often specified that the arson was committed by migrants (sometimes various offensive synonyms are used instead of this word), for example in the channels “The world of Mikhail Onufrienko"(319,000 views), "Ne.Sugar"(307,000), "Skurlatov live"(166,000; the author reported that "the joyful cries of migrants" can be heard in the video), "Anatoly Nesmiyan"(98,000), "Bocharik (yep, that same one)"(88,000; post deleted) and Putin TG Team (67,000). In the TV presenter's channel Ruslana Ostashko (113,000) it is emphasized that, according to local residents, “the cultural site has been completely destroyed.” Similar publications are found in “VKontakte", Twitter (one of the tweets dialed more than 167,000 views), on YouTube and some news websites.
Massive street riots in France started after a police officer shot and killed a 17-year-old French teenager of North African descent on June 27. According to the official version, the car driven by the deceased tried to run over the police, but the CCTV footage that went viral on social networks did not confirm this. According to the BBC, protesters believe that the murder was deliberate and occurred due to the fact that the teenager was not white.
As for the viral video with an allegedly burned French library, it is genuine, but has nothing to do with the events of the summer of 2023 in France. Fact checkers from the project Snopes and agencies Associated Press found out that the video actually captured a fire at the Manila Central Post Office in the Philippines, which happened May 22, 2023. Based on the evidence collected, witness statements, and laboratory results, the local Fire Protection Bureau establishedthat the cause of the fire was an accidental explosion of a car battery, which was stored in a warehouse in close proximity to office supplies, solvents and cans of paint. Despite widespread damage, the City of Manila statedthat they will not demolish almost centennial building — The central post office is considered an important cultural property, so they promised to restore it. Bureau of Fire Protection appreciated The total damage from the fire is approximately 300 million Philippine pesos (near €5 million).
According to French media publications, the Marseille city library "Alcazar" was indeed damaged during the riots, but it was not a matter of arson. So, reportedthat protesters broke windows on facade buildings, threw a smoke bomb was thrown inside, and the automatic doors in the lobby were also broken. There is a video, which shows a small fire inside the library, but this is probably the flash of a thrown fire.
Journalists of the Les Observateurs project of France 24 TV channel contacted with the press service of the Marseille city hall, where they were informed that “no books or documents inside the library were damaged.” Local publications toldthat library resumed work will begin on July 4th, but for now visitors will not be allowed to pass through the main entrance, which will take about a month to repair. At the same time, about the opening of the library on July 4th on social networks wrote June 30 is the closing day. Deputy Mayor of Marseille for Cultural Affairs appreciated damage of approximately €30,000.
And although most publications were correct description the Alcazar collection, in fact largest The country's library is not in Marseille, but in Paris - in the National Library of France stored 16 million books, as well as periodicals, manuscripts, photographs and many other materials.
So the viral video shows a post office fire in the Philippines, not a library in France. The facade of the Marseille institution was indeed damaged during the protests, but not a single book was destroyed.
Cover photo: “Verified” screenshot / video Guardian News
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