People run across an airport as a huge explosion goes off behind them, shared as the Riyadh airport attack: real or AI?

What we found

The clip shows people running before a large explosion. After the attacks on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport on 10 and 11 October 2026, it was shared on Instagram and Facebook as footage of that attack, on its own and inside compilation videos. Full Fact found the clip is AI-generated and has been going round since at least March 2026, months before the Riyadh attack. It also links to an AFP fact check and a Community Note on X about the same clip. Some of the compilations mixed it with real footage: a few seconds from the real Riyadh attack published by the New York Times, and real footage from Dubai International Airport filmed in February 2026 after an Iranian missile attack. When big news breaks, old and fake clips are often stitched together with real ones, so one genuine scene does not make the whole video genuine.

Key facts

Original source

Posted on Instagram

First published

Not recorded

Earlier appearances

Not recorded

The claim you saw

No caption recorded

Signs of AI

Yes. Shown below, but not what decided it

The evidence, strongest first

What we couldn’t establish

Who first made the clip and which tool was used. View counts were not given. If you know more, tell us.