Following the sunken ship in Hormuz: Video of people gathering bags of iPhones on the coast

Surprising videos showing thousands of iPhones scattered along the seashore and locals hurriedly gathering them into sacks and bags are spreading widely on social media.

According to reports, this incident occurred on the Iranian coast near the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, reportedly caused by a shipwreck involving a container ship carrying electronics.

Valuable cargo washed ashore by the waves

The video footage clearly shows the unusual scene along the coast:

• Colorful boxes on the water's surface: Sea waves washed ashore cardboard boxes of iPhones in various colors — red, white, black, and pink;

• Mass harvesting: Hundreds of residents, both women and men, gathered at the scene, wading through water and on the sand to fill large sacks and packages with the valuable boxes;

• Sunken ship version: According to initial claims, the products were scattered into the sea as a result of a large cargo ship sinking in the strait area or several containers falling off the deck into the water and opening during a strong storm.

Do the phones work or are they fake products?

This footage also sparked lively debate and doubts among network users:

• Impact of salt water: Electronics experts emphasize that even if they are original iPhone devices, the cardboard packaging would quickly soak in salty sea water, and the saltwater entering the electronics would disable the devices;

• Probability of "dummies" or empty boxes: Seeing that the boxes floated easily on the water's surface, many observers suggest that there might actually have been no phones inside these boxes, but rather display dummies or cheap counterfeit copies;

• Environmental and legal aspect: The washing ashore of numerous plastic and battery-powered devices also poses a risk of polluting the marine ecology in the region.

So far, official authorities have not disclosed final information regarding which specific merchant ship the incident belongs to and the actual value of the cargo.