Is it true that millions of cockroaches have recently emerged from the ground in Mecca?
In 2023, there was no recent news of a cockroach attack in Mecca. An old video of a locust infestation in 2019 was posted as a recent cockroach invasion in Mecca. A video has gone viral on social media showing cockroaches attacking Muslims in Mecca. The Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia's historic city of Mecca […]
In 2023, there was no recent news of a cockroach attack in Mecca. An old video of a locust infestation in 2019 was posted as a recent cockroach invasion in Mecca.
A video has gone viral on social media showing cockroaches attacking Muslims in Mecca. The Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia's historic city of Mecca has been bombarded by cockroaches.
A video has been shared showing a large number of insects in a place where a larger number of Muslims were gathered to pray. The caption of the post states, “Today in Mecca, a flash flood fell on the tomb of Muhammad on the millions of people who came to celebrate Ramadan. A minute after the rain stopped, millions of cockroaches came out from under the ground, so the prayer was stopped, and everyone ran away.”
The caption reads on Twitter, “Rehmat in #ramdan In Mecca, millions of cockroaches came out from under the ground, so the prayer was stopped, and everyone ran away. This is Karma for all the evil and suffering they are causing the world”.
Fact Check-
We started our investigation on Google reverse image search with the video's keyframes. The video was then discovered to have been posted widely on social media. However, no news or information concerning a recent cockroach attack has been published by the Saudi media, the Saudi government, or the administration of the Mecca Masjid.
Later we searched on Google using some keywords like Mecca and Cockroach. Then, in 2019 and 20, there were reports that there was a large-scale locust attack in Mecca. In further search, we found a media report in Newsweek published on 1 November 2019 with the caption, “Mecca’s Grand Mosque, the World’s Holiest Muslim Site, Is under Attack by Locusts.”
According to geo.tv reports, “Swarms of desert locusts invaded the holy city of Makkah, while millions of them landed on Makkah Tower's clock to completely hide it from people's view. The Saudi Environment Department took timely action and immediately destroyed the locusts”.
We also found a tweet on January 8, 2019, on behalf of Makkah Municipality. It included photographs of the removal of locusts from the Great Mosque of Mecca.
We discovered news and videos indicating that this occurred in 2019. According to sources, these are not cockroaches but black locusts. We also came across a fact-check article published on an Islam-related website regarding this video, which also clarified the above and stated that the video is viral with wrong explanations.
Conclusion-
Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the viral video to be False. The incident is not of recent times but is of four years ago. Also, the attack was not of cockroaches but of locusts. In 2023, there was no report of a locust attack in Mecca.
Title:Is it true that millions of cockroaches have recently emerged from the ground in Mecca?
Fact Check By: Fact Crescendo TeamResult: False
