Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-serving monarch, passed away on September 8. Tributes and condolences have been pouring in on social media following her demise.
Against this backdrop, an image showing Dubai’s iconic Burj Khalifa lit up as Union Jack — Britain’s national flag — is shared on social media, claiming that it was lit up to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II.
The image is shared on Facebook with a caption: “Burj Khalifa last night in memory of Queen Elizabeth II”
Here’s the link to the above post.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above claim, and found it to be MISLEADING.
A simple Reverse Image Search directed us to Hello Magazine which carried the same viral image on May 24, 2017.
According to the article, “Major monuments around the world paid tribute to the victims of the Manchester Arena attack on Tuesday evening. Several, including the world’s tallest building — the Burj Khalifa in Dubai — were illuminated with the Union Jack flag. In contrast, others were shrouded in darkness in mourning for the 22 people killed and 59 injured in the explosion following an Ariana Grande concert on Monday night.”
UAE’s Khaleej Times had also featured the same viral image on May 24, 2017. “Dubai’s Burj Khalifa lit up in the colours of Britain’s Union flag to express solidarity for the Manchester attack yesterday. At least 22 persons, including children, died and 59 were injured in a suicide terror attack that hit Manchester Arena on Monday night just as a concert by American pop singer Ariana Grande had ended,” reads the article.
After the attack on the Manchester Arena in May 2017, numerous news outlets carried social media posts with the viral image of the Burj Khalifa lit up as the Union Jack.
We searched further to find out whether or not the Burj Khalifa had recently been lit up as the Union Jack in remembrance of the late British Monarch. We did a keyword search, but could not find any recent media reports corroborating the viral claim. However, the search turned up some news articles from April 2020 that said the skyscraper had been decorated with Union Jack lights to honour the Queen’s birthday. Check articles here, here and here.
Thus, it is evident that an old image is being falsely shared as Burj Khali recently lit up to honour the late British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.
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