04-06-2025
Fact Check: Months-old Ivory Coast shopping mall fire clip falsely portrayed as May 'coup'
A video of an Ivorian shopping centre engulfed in flames in February was shared on social media on May 21 with the baseless narrative that a coup d'etat had taken place.
The clip, which shows a large blue and grey building on fire while people gather at the scene, was shared, opens new tab on Facebook with overlaid text that says: "ivory coast Coup 19/5/2025 ivory coast is burning" and that the country's President, Alassane Outtara, is "no where to be found".
It was one of several such videos posted around that time purporting to be showing a coup. Reuters found no credible reporting of a coup in Ivory Coast in May.
The building in the video matches, opens new tab imagery uploaded to Google Maps in April 2024 of the Adjamé Château, opens new tab shopping mall in the southern city of Abidjan.
The clip traces to February 5, when it was posted, opens new tab online, opens new tab by national media outlet RTI, described as showing a blaze, opens new tab at the shopping centre. The name 'Adjame Chateau' was partly visible in the footage.
The shopping centre's Facebook page, opens new tab on February 6 said in a statement, opens new tab that there were no fatalities and the blaze was brought under control, as did, opens new tab the Adjamé Town Hall's Facebook page, opens new tab.
Ivory Coast's government and defence ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
The National Agency for Information Systems Security of Ivory Coast (ANSSI) told Ivorian media, opens new tab on May 22 that online claims of a coup in Ivory Coast were false.
President Outtara was seen, opens new tab on May 22 in a livestream video posted from his X account, opens new tab of UNESCO's Félix Houphouët-Boigny award ceremony, opens new tab hosted in Abidjan. He also delivered a speech at the event, according to the presidency's website, opens new tab.
Miscaptioned. The video was captured in February and shows a fire at a shopping centre in Abidjan.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work.
