Video showing a church in flames appeared on social media this week along with claims the fire happened at Montreal’s Notre-Dame Basilica and was the result of arson by “Islamists.”

The actual video is from last year and shows a fire that destroyed a decommissioned church in Trois-Rivières, Que. While the cause of the fire isn’t clear, officials say it was likely accidental and related to roof construction.

THE CLAIM

A video posted to the X platform, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday by an account known for sharing anti-Islam content claimed Montreal’s historic Notre-Dame Basilica burned down.

The cause of the supposed fire, the account and similar posts on Instagram claimed, was arson performed by “Islamists.”

The X post received 14,000 likes and around 370,000 views according to

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