Verified footage shows fires after strike at Myanmar hospitalpublished at 10:51 GMT
10:51 GMT
Shruti Menon
BBC Verify senior journalist, reporting from Delhi
Media caption,
Video shows fire and damage following overnight strike on Myanmar hospital
Videos filmed in the aftermath of an overnight strike on a hospital in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state show fires around the complex and sections of a nearby building appear heavily damaged.
The footage was filmed at night outside the hospital in Mrauk-U township. The strike reportedly killed at least 34 people and injured dozens more.
To verify the location, I compared the footage with daytime aftermath imagery captured by news agencies and Getty Images, which show extensive damage to the same cluster of hospital buildings. The scorched roofs, the courtyard layout and the damaged wing match satellite imagery on Google Earth, confirming the location shown in the overnight footage was Mrauk-U hospital.
Reverse image searching three freeze-frames of the video showed that the footage is recent, with no versions found online earlier than last night.
The Myanmar military hasn’t commented on the incident so far. However, several pro-military Telegram channels claim that Aarakan Army (AA) – an armed group fighting against the Myanmar military – soldiers were receiving treatment at the hospital.
The AA, one of the strongest ethnic groups fighting the Myanmar’s military regime in the ongoing civil war, currently controls parts of Rakhine state including Mrauk-U.
