Fact Check: Did Mongolian Minister set himself ablaze over failure to complete housing project?

It has been uncovered that a viral video on the social media, claiming that the Mongolian Minister of Public Works set himself on fire due to his inability to fulfill his promise of building 100,000 housing projects, is false.

Rather, that the man who set himself ablaze was the Chairman of the Board of the Mongolian Solidarity Labor Union, S. Erdene, in protest at the sale of coal mines in Mongolia to China, according to experts who conducted an online search. The incident was said to have happened in 2015.

A video trending on WhatsApp claims that the Mongolian Minister of Public Works set himself ablaze because he was unable to build 100,000 units of low-income houses as he promised.

The video which is currently trending on WhatsApp was shared and forwarded several times with the following text:

“The Minister of Public works in Mongolia promised to build one hundred thousand units of low-income houses in a year. He said if he fails, he would set himself ablaze. At the end of the year, he built seventy thousand. He then called a press conference during which he set himself ablaze!! Hmmmmm”

According PRNigeria, a verification of the video through a simple online search revealed that the incident was actually reported on 17th of November 2015, about seven years ago which is, therefore, not a recent occurrence as being portrayed.

It was also discovered that the news which was reported by many media platforms has nothing to do with the Mongolian Minister of Public Works but rather associated with a Mongolian union boss identified as S. Erdene who set himself on fire in protest over the sale of coal mines in Mongolia to China to draw attention on the conditions faced by miners in the country.

“The government no longer supports our company, families of the workers are forced to starve,” he told reporters during the briefing. “This is why I will burn myself for the people of Mongolia and our children.” He then lit his lapel and bursts into flames immediately.

“The Incident did not occur recently as claimed in the viral video but in 2015 when one S. Erdene, the Chairman of the Board of the Mongolian Solidarity Labor Union in protest at the sale of coal mines in Mongolia set himself ablaze.

“The Claim that the Mongolian Minister of Public Works set himself on fire due to his inability to complete housing projects as promised, is therefore false,” PRNigeria reported. (PRNigeria)