A picture purporting to show a car plunging into the water has been circulated. It shows the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore.
Verified accounts on twitter, including @aatishparashar tweeted “#BREAKING Very Shocking visuals A cargo ship collided with the #FrancisScottKeyBridge in Baltimore leads to its complete collapse, with multiple cars plunging into the water below and more than 20 people missing #Baltimore #BridgeCollapse #Bridge” on March 26, 2024. The tweet has received an about 36.4k views on X.
#BREAKING Very Shocking visuals
— Aatish Parashar (@aatishparashar) March 26, 2024
A cargo ship collided with the #FrancisScottKeyBridge in Baltimore leads to its complete collapse, with multiple cars plunging into the water below and more than 20 people missing#Baltimore #BridgeCollapse #Bridge pic.twitter.com/eUk1dzClr8
Several other accounts, including @gopusingh4044, @imu07280300033, @Arman788398 made the same claim that the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore completely collapsed as a result of a cargo ship colliding with it; numerous cars plunged into the water below, leaving more than 20 persons missing. The archive can be read from above.
What is the Actual Truth About this Incident? : Fact
In actuality, the shared photo is an old one from Northern Ireland, taken on New Year’s Day in 2022 when a car entered the River Roe close to Dungiven in County Londonderry. The incident at the Francis Scott Key Bridge is unrelated to it.
We went to Belfast Telegraph, which published an article on this incident on Jan 1, 2022 with the headline “Driver rescued as car enters river outside Dungiven”. Emergency services have rescued a driver whose car got into a river on the outskirts of Dungiven. Specialised rescue teams from Crescent Link and Central Fire Stations in Belfast were among the units dispatched by NIFRS. After police confirmed all of the car’s occupants were accounted for, firefighters conducted another search of the river. For more clarification, we also went to BBC, which posted about this on Jan 1, 2022 with the heading “Dungiven: Man escapes after car crashes into river”. The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service reported that it had assisted him in climbing an embankment off of Magheramore Road using ropes. It has been reported that he was not seriously injured. A further search of the river took place to determine if there was anyone else in the water. So, it is clear from this that this incident has no connection with the Francis Scott Key Bridge incident.
D-Intent’s Fact-Checking Results:
1781
— D-Intent Data (@dintentdata) March 26, 2024
ANALYSIS: Misleading
FACT: An image featuring a car entering water has been shared, claiming to be from the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore. The fact is that the shared image is an old image from Northern Ireland, where a car entered the River Roe (1/2) pic.twitter.com/99LbVLUmpU
Intent:
Influencers are circulating old images from different locations claiming to be from Baltimore,Maryland,to get the spotlight on social media. An image featuring a car entering water has been shared, claiming to be from the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore. The shared image is, in reality, an old image from Northern Ireland, taken on New Year’s Day in 2022 when a car entered the River Roe at Dungiven, County Londonderry. There is no connection between it and the incident at the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
Conclusion:
Claim : A photograph of a car entering water has been posted, claiming to be from the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore.
Fact : The fact is that the shared image is an old image from Northern Ireland, where a car entered the River Roe near Dungiven, County Londonderry, on New Year’s Day in 2022. It has nothing to do with the Francis Scott Key Bridge accident.
