Debunking the “Fountain of Fire” Phenomenon ⁣in Saudi Arabia

A viral video has been circulating on ‌social‌ media,⁤ claiming​ to show a fountain ‍in Saudi Arabia⁣ that spouts both water and⁢ fire. However, this claim has been debunked as a misleading representation ‍of a real event that occurred in‍ Iraqi Kurdistan.

The video, which has gained thousands of views and shares, shows a crowd gathering around a fountain with water⁤ pouring out and a fire burning at its tip. Publishers of the video attributed this ‍phenomenon to unseen causes related⁢ to “the end of the world.”

However, a search of older versions of the video⁤ on social⁣ media sites revealed​ that it was actually ⁤filmed in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. A YouTube search with keywords such as “well+fire+Kurdistan” also revealed a video report broadcast by Al Jazeera in 2015⁤ that appeared in the ⁣broadcast video.

Reports say that ‍the well is located in‍ the Chachamal Governorate of‌ the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and that the fire⁢ was caused by a gas mixture in the water. The⁣ farmer who dug the well‌ was surprised by ‌the ​unpleasant ‍smell emitted during the digging process, and a committee from the Ministry of Natural Resources inspected the well and confirmed the presence of gas.

Iraq’s Nature Agency, an Iraqi non-governmental ​organization accredited​ by the United Nations Environment ⁣Program, released a video clip ⁤of the same⁢ incident in 2017. The agency confirmed that the well it photographed was the one shown in the⁤ circulated video, ⁤and‌ that the incident took place in the Chachamal area, about 45‍ kilometers west of Sulaymaniyah city.

The agency explained that the gas ignited due to high ‍temperatures in the area, causing‍ tongues of fire ⁣to emerge from the well. A ⁤similar incident happened earlier last year in Tunisia, when a farmer dug a well only to be surprised when​ it caught ‍fire because there was gas in the ground.