Posts from users on social media platforms on August 16, 2025, shared a video showing the destruction of houses by a torrent of mud and water, attributing it to the recent floods in the country’s northern areas. However, the video is from a landslide incident in Japan from 2021.
Viral video shows flood destruction in KP and GB
The iVerify Pakistan team investigated this content and determined that it is false.
To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan conducted a reverse image search to find the original video.
Posts from users on social media platforms on August 16, 2025, shared a video showing the destruction of houses by a torrent of mud and water, attributing it to the recent floods in the country’s northern areas. However, the video is from a landslide incident in Japan from 2021.
The recent flooding in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir has been catastrophic, driven by intense monsoon rains and cloudbursts. Entire villages were swept away, and infrastructure was obliterated. Rescue operations have been challenging due to blocked roads and difficult terrain. The provincial government has faced criticism for delayed responses and inadequate preparedness.
On August 16, an X user, who appeared to be a PML-N supporter based on his past posts, shared a video compilation of floods sweeping away infrastructure.
It was coupled with a voiceover from a news bulletin reporting on casualties of the natural disaster.
The post was viewed by over 165,000 users.
The same video with a similar claim was widely shared by other users as can be seen here, here and here, racking up 286,000, 68,000, and 13,000 views respectively.
Users also shared a shorter version of the video with a different voiceover from a news bulletin here, here, here, here, here and here, gaining over 750,000 views collectively.
The posts did not attribute the video to a specific location in KP or GB and did not provide any other further context such as the date of the video.
A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its hgh virality, keen public interest in the matter and the influx of visuals linked to the recent destruction across Pakistan.
A reverse image search on the first clip in the video yielded a Facebook post from July 3, 2021, titled “Landslide in Japan this morning.”
A keyword search for ‘Japan Landslide 2021’ led to a news report by BBC dated July 3, 2021, with the headline, “Japan landslide: 20 people missing in Atami city”.
According to the report, a rescue operation was launched in central Japan after a popular resort in Atami was hit by a landslide. The disaster killed two people, and up to 300 homes were affected.
The voiceover in the first clip was traced back to a Geo News bulletin at the 1:37-minute mark, posted on August 16, 2025. The voiceover in the second video clip came from a different Geo News bulletin at the 2:04-minute mark that premiered on August 17.
The voiceovers were extracted and added over the video of the Japanese landslide incident.
The claim that a viral video shows destruction in KP and GB is false.
The clip showing a torrent of mud and water sweeping away houses is from a landslide incident in Japan in 2021.
July 3, 2021, Facebook post:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=960543791447991
July 3, 2021, BBC news report:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57704967
