No, this video doesn’t show an ‘alternate angle’ of Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse

In the early hours of Tuesday, March 26, a container ship struck a support on Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing the bridge to collapse into the Patapsco River. 

Live stream video of the collision and collapse posted on social media quickly went viral. 

Another video clip posted to X a few hours later claims to show an “alternate angle” of the bridge coming apart. The video appears to show the surface of the bridge, with vehicles driving on the roadway, followed by a massive explosion. The different angle of the collapse along with an explosion helped to fuel alternate theories about how and why the bridge collapsed.

The video had more than a million views at the time of publishing. 

THE QUESTION

Does the viral video show an “alternate angle” of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse?

THE SOURCES

• Original video from The Guardian published on Oct. 8, 2022
• StreamTime Live footage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse on March 26, 2024
• Google Maps
• InVid and RevEye, video forensics tools

THE ANSWER

No, this video doesn’t show an “alternate angle” of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. The video isn’t from Baltimore and actually shows an explosion from 2022 on the Kerch Bridge, which connects Russia and Crimea.

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WHAT WE FOUND

The viral video claiming to show an “alternate angle” of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse wasn’t taken in Baltimore, or even in the U.S. The video is from October 2022 and shows an explosion on the Kerch Bridge. The Kerch Bridge connects Russia to Crimea. 

Using InVid, a video forensics tool, VERIFY conducted a reverse image search and traced the viral video back to a video posted on Oct. 8, 2022 by The Guardian . The video published by The Guardian shows CCTV footage of “the moment the bridge linking Crimea and Russia was hit by a huge explosion.” 

Comparing the video from the Guardian with the viral post, you can see the same vehicle with headlights driving toward the camera. 

Using imagery from Google Maps, we were able to confirm that the viral video shows the Kerch Bridge. The same tall arches on each side of the bridge can be seen in both videos. 

Additionally, a verified video showing the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsing posted by StreamTime Live, shows the structure breaking apart and tumbling into the water in a matter of seconds. There is no sign of any explosion as seen in the viral video from the Crimean bridge.