An abandoned mansion in Texas, USA (PHOTO)? Find out the facts…

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Netizens often marvel at strange and unique photo captures from around the world. These get shared among wide audiences in a very short time, and many times they get shared with misleading narratives as well. This is our investigation related to such a misleading image, claiming to be an abandoned mansion in Texas.

Social Media Posts

An image which appears to be huge building complex comprising of many units was shared claiming to be an “Abandoned mansion in Texas” USA

Facebook | Archived

Users commented to it like below.

Fact Check

First, we did a Google reverse image to find matching images to the claimed image.

We detected that the original image was posted by a photographer named Dimitar Karanikolv, on his Instagram account and he claims that the photo is depicting an aerial view of an abandoned hotel in Bulgaria, on the Black Sea cost, as seen below.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dimitar Karanikolov (@karanikolov)

Instagram| Archived

Using keyword and image searches, we found that there was indeed a massive, abandoned resort on the Black Sea coast in Bulgaria named as Costa del Croco (Crocodile Coast). A video about it can be watched below.

Here is another video of this building which now looks more like a ghost town.

The hotel complex was built in a coastal area called Tsarevo in Bulgaria and more photos can be seen here from the Google Maps location. Bulgaria is a country located in southeastern Europe.

What happened to the Costa del Croco Resort?

Below is an extract from a Bulgarian news website on how the ambitious project of Costa del Croco came to a grinding halt because it's funding were linked to criminal organizations.

“In Tsarevo itself, the concrete skeletons of an entire abandoned resort town “Costa del Croco” stand out, which illustrates the future of many of the hotel complexes on the Black Sea coast. Construction of the Costa del Croco (Crocodile Coast) began in 2007. There was to be a 5-star hotel, a residential complex of 53 buildings with 927 apartments, 30 family houses in the water and a marina, three private beaches., hospital, bank, summer cinema and amphitheater, casino, 13 swimming pools, 3 tennis courts, underground garages.

Two years later, construction was halted after Russian investors Andrei Panpurin and Konstantin Tsiganov were expelled from the country by State Agency for National Security(SANS) , Bulgaria ,orders. The reason is secret, but SANS has such powers in case of a threat to national security or public order. Tsiganov is said to be the leader of the mafia clan Uralmash and was wanted by Russia and Interpol.”

More details about this can be taken from here. Archived.

However, there are few abandoned hotels and resorts in Texas as show here and here

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Conclusion

According to our investigation, we were verified that the viral social media image does not depict an abandoned mansion in Texas. The photo is a scenery from an abandoned hotel complex overlooking the Black Sea at Tsarevo, Bulgaria called as Costa Del Croco or Crocodile Coast.