On April 19, 2024, a video was published on Facebook showing two scenes of camels in difficulty in the middle of a torrent of water and mud. The video is accompanied by a comment, written by the author of the post, which reads: «Rivers of water in the desert: camels are swept away by the current Rain never seen before in Saudi Arabia and the Emirates. Artificial rain.”
The reference is to the heavy rains and thunderstorms that hit several countries in the Persian Gulf between 15 and 18 April 2024, with particular intensity the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Extreme rainfall caused flash floods, resulting in 18 deaths in Oman.
This is misleading content, which conveys false news.
First of all, as we reconstructed in our previous article, the news that the heavy rains in the United Arab Emirates were artificially produced by man is devoid of any corroboration.
Furthermore, both videos of camels in distress amidst a torrent of mud and water have no connection to what happened in the United Arab Emirates in April 2024. Video of the same scene captured in the first clip – which depicts several camels trying to resist the force of the stream – have been circulating on social media since October 2018. According to what we read in the caption that accompanied the images, the scene occurred in Tabouk, Saudi Arabia. At the time, local media reported that Tabouk had been hit by heavy rains that had caused flooding.
The second clip – which shows a camel being dragged away by the current of a river made of water and mud – has been circulating online since at least March 2023. Again, based on what was written in the caption, the scene was caused by strong floods in Saudi Arabia.
