Yahoo News 3 fake claims about the Baltimore bridge collapse you may have seen online
The tragic Baltimore bridge collapse has shocked the world, with an operation still ongoing to find the bodies of the victims.
The Singapore container vessel Dali crashed into a support pylon of the Francis Scott Key Bridge over the mouth of the Patapsco River on Wednesday. Two bodies have since been recovered, while four others are still missing and presumed dead.
While reports are fast-flowing, the accident has led to a slew of fake claims surfacing online about the collapse. Several have already been debunked.
Here are three of the fake claims about the Baltimore bridge collapse.
‘The Dali captain was Ukrainian’
One of the claims that first spread quickly on social media was that the captain of the Dali was a Ukrainian. The claim was spread without legitimate evidence or merit and some blamed it on pro-Russian bots attempting to paint Ukraine negatively in light of the ongoing war in the region.
A website, balticshipping.com, was cited as proof of the claims. On the site, users can post their job experience for potential employers, with information about ships served on included.
Screenshots that were shared show two people who included the Dali on their employment history – including a Ukrainian man who was captain of the Dali for several months in 2016. However, fact-checking Snopes reported that his captaincy ended that same year and the corporate owner of the Dali, Synergy Marine Group, has already stated that the crew of the ship during the incident was composed entirely of Indian citizens.
Maryland laws also dictate that ships engaged in foreign trade must be brought to the Port of Baltimore by a pilot employed by the State of Maryland – regardless of who is the captain of the ship.
‘Chinese plane shot at by US near collapsed bridge’
One of the more outlandish conspiracy theories about the bridge collapse was that it was a result of a Chinese plane being shot down by the US. People offered what they said was footage showing the incident, which highlighted escalating tensions between the two countries.
In the footage, shots can be seen being exchanged between a plane flying through a dark sky and from an area on the ground. The plane is shot down at the end of the clip, which conspiracists said resulted in the collapse of the bridge.
In an effort to make the clip appear genuine, it was posted on social media with the caption: “Breaking: Tensions escalate as a Chinese plane engages US land forces near the Baltimore bridge, which has been destroyed in the skirmish. Developing story. #BreakingNews #baltimorebridge”.
However, the clip is in fact from the military simulation video game, Arma 3. The Full Fact website says that the footage was first shared on X by an account based in Moscow. The post was given an X ‘community note’ to highlight the facts, and the original poster appeared to concede it was fake, writing: “Who called the fun police?”
‘Large explosion destroyed bridge’
Despite extensive video footage of the disaster being available, some people shared what they said was a “large explosion” on the bridge from another angle. By claiming this, people suggested that the bridge was brought down deliberately by a blast.
The 15-second clip shows driving over a bridge at night before a huge fireball engulfs the structure. However, the clip was actually from a different country and a different year, Reuters and the Associated Press reported.
The video shows the Crimea Bridge over the Kerch Strait, which links the region to Russia. It was taken in October 2022 and had already been shared online in that year.
Officials in the US have said that the bridge crash was a tragic accident and said that there were no signs of terrorism being to blame. Live footage of the incident also shows no explosions.
Read more:
The Baltimore bridge collapse raised questions about key safety features (Business Insider)
