Bangkok rescue footage taken night after building collapse, not days later
"1/04/2025 One more new survivor was found. Miracle is real. Please hang tight. Everyone is trying to rescue you. We're sending mental support. Information: Chayan Sawatdee," reads a Thai-language Facebook post shared 1.
Text superimposed on the video reads: "Miracles are real."
The clip shows nighttime rescue efforts at the rubble site with someone saying: "OK, the toe wiggled. I can see your toe. Hang tight."
Image
Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post taken April 3, 2025
The 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck central Myanmar sent tremors to cities hundreds of kilometers away in China and Thailand. In Bangkok, a skyscraper that was under construction collapsed, prompting a rescue mission and scrutiny over a Chinese developer. (archived links here and here).
rescue operations entered their eighth day on April 4, authorities at the site said they had found nine survivors and 15 bodies, while nearly 80 people remained missing.
The clip racked up more than 71,000 likes and 8,300 shares, with captions celebrating what appeared to be footage of someone rescued after spending three days under the rubble.
"Overjoyed that they found another one alive. I hope they keep finding more survivors," one commenter said.
Another user wrote: "I'm happy for the survivor."
However, the clip was filmed March 28 -- not April 1.
A keyword search for " Sawatdee" surfaced the same video posted March 31 by a Facebook user with that name -- a rescue worker at Bang O Fire and Rescue Station in (archived link).
Image
Screenshot comparison of the misleading post (L) and Chayan's video on Facebook
Chayan confirmed to AFP that he filmed the video the same day the building collapsed.
"I took the clip on the first day," Chayan said during an April 3 phone interview. "A man survived."
Metadata from Chayan's original video, which he with AFP, confirmed it was filmed the evening of March 28, hours after the skyscraper collapsed.
Image
Screenshot from Metadata2go.com taken April 4, 2025
A from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) confirmed to AFP that no survivors were rescued April 1.
has fact-checked other false and misleading claims about the earthquake here.
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