Old video of Rome escalator chaos falsely shared as Israelis 'fleeing' Iran attack

AFP Pakistan
·2 min read

Following Iran's unprecedented attack on Israel in April 2024, a video of commuters hurtling down a fast-moving escalator in Rome surfaced in social media posts that falsely claimed it showed Israelis fleeing the violence. The footage was filmed in October 2018 when an escalator malfunction injured more than 20 Russian football fans in the Italian capital.

"Situation at Israel airport. I am sure Palestinians will surely smile when they see such videos," read a Facebook post written in English and Urdu shared on April 14.

The dramatic video, which racked up more than 1,000 views, shows people hurtling down a fast-moving escalator and crashing into each other at the bottom.

A man on the adjacent escalator can be seen trying to pull people to safety.

<span>A screengrab of the false post taken by AFP on April 24, 2024.</span>
A screengrab of the false post taken by AFP on April 24, 2024.

The video -- which circulated in similar false Facebook posts here, here and here -- surfaced after Iran launched an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel on April 13 that sent regional tensions spiralling.

Tehran's assault was in retaliation for Israel's air strike on its consulate in Damascus on April 1 that killed seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals.

However, the video does not show Israelis fleeing the April 13 attack.

Rome metro disaster

A reverse image search of the video on Google found it posted on YouTube by Britain's Guardian newspaper in October 2018 -- years before Tehran's direct attack on Israel (archived link).

According to the YouTube video description, 24 fans of Russian football club CSKA Moscow were injured after a crowded escalator sped up at a metro station in the Italian capital Rome.

The clip, credited to CSKA's fan club @RBWorldorg, was titled: "Escalator speeds up and collapses in Rome, injuring football fans".

The drama unfolded at Repubblica station on October 23, 2018 just over an hour before the kickoff of a Champions League match between Italy's Roma and Russian club CSKA Moscow, AFP reported.

AFP published the video with a credit to the same CSKA fan club and a photo from the Italian fire and rescue service of the collapsed escalator.

The CSKA fan club shared the clip on X and details of helplines for victims on its website (archived links here and here).