Video from 2022 misrepresented as footage of Baltimore bridge collapse
CLAIM: A video taken on Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge shows a large explosion that occurred before the structure fell into the water below.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The video circulated online in 2022, identified as showing security footage of an explosion that caused the partial collapse of the Kerch Bridge, which links the Crimean Peninsula with Russia. It was shared at the time on Russian Telegram channels and by major media outlets.
THE FACTS: After a container ship lost power and rammed into the Key Bridge causing it to collapse early Tuesday, social media users shared the old video, falsely representing it as footage from the bridge before it fell into the Patapsco River.
The 15-second clip shows vehicles driving over an arching bridge lit up at night. An enormous fireball then suddenly engulfs the structure.
“Alternate angle on Francis Scott Key bridge shows a large explosion,” reads one tweet that had received approximately 7,500 likes and 3,800 shares as of Tuesday afternoon.