Was an unmarked car with gas tanks and Arabic documents found near the scene of the Notre Dame cathedral fire in 2019? No, that's not true: several social media posts are spreading old news from 2016 as if it happened right after the fire that devastaded the church on April 15, 2016.
An example of such a post (archived here) can be seen below, from the Facebook page British Independence News where it was published on April 15, 2019:
Gas tanks and documents in Arabic were found in an unmarked car next to Notre Dame cathedral, sparking fresh terror fears and at least four arrests, according to French reports.
Other examples:
The Telegraph story it linked to was from 2016:
Gas tanks and Arabic documents found in unmarked car by Paris' Notre-Dame cathedral spark terror fears
The first couple, a man aged 34 and a woman aged 29, were arrested on a motorway lay-by near Orange, southern France. The pair were being questioned by French domestic intelligence agents who can hold them for 96 hours without charges under French anti-terror laws.
That story has since been updated with a warning:
This story is from 2016 and unrelated to the fire at Notre-Dame on April 15 2019
One of the women involved in that plot was recently convicted to eight years in prison:
France jails 'jihadist' woman (22) accused over foiled terror attack in Paris
Madani was jailed for encouraging would-be jihadists to go to Syria and participate in attacks against France.
Several people were sharing the old story as if it was breaking news:
Arabic documents next to gas tanks sounds like a false flag again https://t.co/99cepOkla9
-- Peter F Kapnistos (@BlackRaiser) April 15, 2019
https://t.co/zwWIY7dCc5 pls not this shit again...
-- ahg (@zoomerpyro) April 16, 2019
*sigh* As usual...https://t.co/2N2QhOGM5c
-- Kristen Danielle (@SavedSiren) April 16, 2019
There you fucking go... religion of peace!
-- Cobra ki Ammi (@KumarLokal) April 16, 2019
Gas tanks and Arabic documents found in unmarked car by Paris' Notre Dame cathedral spark terror fears https://t.co/VnLl7XpRuP
There you fucking go... religion of peace!
-- Cobra ki Ammi (@KumarLokal) April 16, 2019
Gas tanks and Arabic documents found in unmarked car by Paris' Notre Dame cathedral spark terror fears https://t.co/VnLl7XpRuP
Currently the cause of the fire is still under investigation, no definitive conclusions have been announced by investigators yet. All reports calling it accidental, arson, terrorism... (or anything else) are just speculation at this point.
