Did a Video Show Climber Qaqa'a bin Antar Falling Into a Volcanic Crater? Al-Nahar Fact-Checks It
A viral clip was falsely shared as the moment Yemeni climber Qaqa'a bin Antar fell into a volcanic crater. Al-Nahar says the footage is old and was posted by him in October 2025.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
The piece debunks a circulating claim about a climber’s alleged fall into the Haradah crater in Dhamt, Yemen. It says the video is not recent and was originally posted by Qaqa'a bin Antar himself months earlier.
A video was shared with a wrong story attached to it. The clip was old and had been posted earlier by the climber himself, like using last month’s school photo to pretend something happened today.
Analysis
What the claim said
A video spread online with the claim that it showed the Yemeni climber Qaqa'a bin Antar falling into the dormant volcanic crater known as Haradah in Dhamt, in Yemen’s Al-Dhali governorate. The clip shows a young man climbing a steep, rugged slope with one hand, which made the rumor seem plausible to many viewers.
What the fact-check found
Al-Nahar says the claim is false. The footage is old, and the same video was posted by Qaqa'a bin Antar on his Facebook account on October 26, 2025. In that post, the caption described him as challenging danger. The fact-check also notes that Bin Antar had built a social-media following by sharing climbing and adventure videos, which earned him the nickname “Spider-Man of Yemen.”
Why the rumor spread
The report places the viral clip in the context of a real incident that had just been reported by Yemeni civil defense authorities. According to the article, rescue teams recovered the body of Qaqa'a bin Antar al-Abbasi, known as Qaqa'a bin Antar, from one of the volcanic craters in Dhamt after locating it. Civil defense said the operation was difficult because of the site’s rough terrain and the intense volcanic heat.
The broader context
The article says Haradah is one of Dhamt’s best-known landmarks and that the area attracts visitors because of its hot sulfur springs and volcanic features. But it also warns that reckless attempts to film oneself hanging around the crater have turned the site into a deadly trap for some young people. In other words, the real tragedy is not the viral clip itself, but the danger that inspired the confusion in the first place.
Key points
- The viral video was claimed to show Qaqa'a bin Antar falling into the Haradah volcanic crater in Dhamt, Yemen.
- Al-Nahar says the claim is false and that the footage was posted earlier by Bin Antar on Facebook on October 26, 2025.
- Yemeni civil defense said rescuers recovered Bin Antar’s body from one of the crater sites after a difficult operation.
- Bin Antar had become known online for climbing and adventure videos and was nicknamed 'Spider-Man of Yemen'.
- The article warns that the crater has become a dangerous attraction where some people survive and others do not.
The fact-check could help slow the spread of false claims around a real tragedy. It also gives viewers a clearer timeline and may encourage people to verify dramatic clips before resharing them.
Even when the false claim is corrected, the clip may keep circulating with the wrong story attached. The article also shows that dangerous stunts at the crater can still end badly, even if some climbers survive.
