A video of a refuge chamber used to protect workers in hazardous environments has been mislabeled on social media, with users claiming it is a shipping container used for human trafficking.
In the video (here), the person filming walks up to the metal container and unbolts the door.
Inside, two rows of seats line the walls, and a yellow control station branded with the words “mineARC” sits at the far end of the room.
“Many containers are made for human transportation!”, one post sharing the video claims. “Be prepare [sic] for what’s about to be exposed in regards to the Evergreen in Suez Canal!”
Followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory have previously made baseless claims linking the Ever Given, a giant container ship that blocked the Egypt’s Suez Canal for almost a week, to human trafficking (here).
In the comments section, users agreed that the video demonstrates how “the victims of trafficking are transported”.
But the container shown in the video is not used for shipping.
Pointing to its real use, the container door has the words “REFUGE CHAMBER” and “mineSAFE” branded across its façade.
MineARC, which describes itself as a “global leader in controlled environments” for industries like mining (minearc.com/), has developed a so-called “refuge chamber” called MineSAFE (here).
A chamber like the one seen in the video can be seen on the MineARC website (here).
As the company website explains, a refuge chamber is used to protect workers against hazards ranging from explosions to the release of toxic gas, and is used in emergencies when evacuation is no longer considered “safe or practical” (here).
The Reuters fact check team have debunked other false claims about the Ever Given (here) and (here).
VERDICT
False. The video shows a “refuge container” used to protect mine workers against hazardous environments, not a shipping container.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts here.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.