In recent weeks, social media users have shared a video of stones falling from the sky in Sweden after an Iraqi refugee burned a copy of the Quran in front of a Stockholm mosque.
However, the video actually shows a hailstorm that hit Siberia in the summer of 2014.
The video shows a group in swimming suits fleeing in panic as a hailstorm pelted the river bank.
“A miracle on a nudist beach in the middle of Sweden, stones of fire falling from the sky… Wrath of the mighty,” was the accompanying caption.
The video was particularly widely circulated on Instagram, and included an image of Sylvan Momika, an Iraqi refugee, who burned a copy of the Koran in front of a mosque in Stockholm on June 28, and returned to burn a second copy in front of the Iraqi embassy in Sweden on July 20.
The video’s promoters believe that its appearance is punishment for Sweden for allowing the Quran to be burned.
Old video from Siberia
But the viral video has nothing to do with it.
After cutting it into static shots, the search was directed toward it in a brochure sites International News in 2014.
Accompanying captions say it shows hail in Novosibirsk, Russia’s Siberia region.
On that day, a hail storm surprised many as they sat on the banks of the Ob river enjoying the June sun.
According to local sites, the sandy beach, located between two bridges over the Op River, had a temperature of 37 degrees Celsius before strong winds and is a popular destination for residents in summer.
You can see the same place in Siberia with Google Maps.
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