Dramatic images and video from Egypt in wake of church attacks (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

In the wake of a terrorist attack, social media is flooded with content allegedly from the scene, as was the case in Sunday’s blasts in Egypt. RT share how we investigated what was being produced to tell the story as close to the source as possible.

READ MORE: At least 36 killed in Egypt church bombings, ISIS claims responsibility

The first blast occurred at St. George’s Coptic church in Tanta, north of Cairo. A post to social media geo-located to the site of the church was verified by RT as the earliest upload of an image. The post shows crowds and emergency services outside the church.

(This post contains offensive language).

RT were able to confirm the church was St. George’s by comparing it to images taken by Reuters at the scene in which distinctive features can be compared.

An image shared by another Twitter account showing the interior of the church was investigated by RT. The uploader was contacted and confirmed he did not take the image but that he was located in Tanta and would provide original content.

An image the user provided, and said was taken inside the church, shows the aftermath of the blast. The location was corroborated by RT who compared features in the image to those in a Reuters image taken inside the church.

The source was then moved to the outside of the church where they claim the second image was taken.

The Tanta attack was followed by a bomb explosion at St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Christian Cathedral in Alexandria.

READ MORE: 11 killed, 40 injured by ISIS suicide bomb attack at Coptic church in Alexandria

An early image uploaded to Twitter by a user geo-located in Alexandria showed the aftermath.

RT were able to verify the location of the image to Al Akbat Church street, in Alexandria in the vicinity of the church named, using Google Street view. In both images identifying features can be seen including a building in the distance and store fronts.

Video taken at the same location was found on YouTube showing people gathered at Al Akbat Church street as rescue services attended the scene. The uploader, who shared two videos from the scene, was contacted by RT but has not responded. His uploads are the earliest known version of this footage.

Using store fronts visible on Google Maps, RT were able to verify the location of the video.

A tweet geo-located to Alexandria showed a man climbing a gate that matched an Instagram post of a similar gate geo-located to St Mark’s Church in Alexandria.

RT reached out to the user who confirmed ownership of several images uploaded to their Twitter account taken at the same location following the blast.

In an image provided directly to RT, the same gate can be identified next to damage caused by the blast.

RT located a Twitter account providing video from the scene via Periscope showing an ambulance passing through heavy crowds of people.

A red and white sign and a small structure visible in the Periscope were matched to a Google Maps image of Al Akbat Church street, running alongside St Marks’.

The owner of the account was located in Egypt according to their profile and an accompanying blog. A tweet taken at the scene could also be verified as being taken in the same area.