Viral video shows bridge explosion in Crimea, not on Baltimore's Key Bridge | Fact check

Joedy McCreary, USA TODAY
Updated ·3 min read

The claim: Video shows explosion on Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge

A March 26 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a video of vehicles traveling across a bridge at night when suddenly an explosion erupts on the bridge.

"#FrancesScottKeyBridge explosion (sic)," reads the post's caption. "Dozens of cars fell into the water after the collapse in Baltimore."

The post was shared more than 5,000 times in less than a day. A similar version of the claim was shared on Instagram and received more than 30,000 likes before it was deleted.

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Our rating: False

The video does not show the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. It was taken in 2022 and shows an explosion that led to the partial collapse of a bridge built by Russia to connect the country with the Crimean Peninsula.

Video shows 2022 explosion on bridge to Crimea, not Baltimore

The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed into the Patapsco River at around 1:30 a.m. ET March 26 after a cargo vessel leaving the Port of Baltimore struck one of the structure’s columns, authorities said. A massive search was underway for six construction workers who were on the bridge when it collapsed, and the city’s fire department described the collapse as a “mass-casualty incident.”

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But the video shared on Facebook is unrelated to this incident. It dates to 2022 and shows an explosion that led to the partial collapse of a bridge that spans the Kerch Strait and links Russia to Russian-annexed Crimea.

The Facebook video matches footage posted to X, formerly Twitter, and published by media outlets, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, The Times of Israel and the BBC, in 2022 of the explosion on the Russian-built bridge. The version posted to Facebook is cropped to remove any watermarks that identify it.

The Oct. 8, 2022, blast killed three people and severely damaged the bridge, causing it to partially collapse, USA TODAY reported at the time. A truck bomb caused the explosion, Russian authorities said. Russia no longer uses that bridge to transport weapons to the Ukrainian front after a series of Ukrainian strikes damaged the 12-mile crossing, according to a report from The Kyiv Independent.

USA TODAY reached out to several Facebook users who shared the video but did not immediately receive responses.

Lead Stories also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No, explosion video doesn't show Baltimore's Key Bridge | Fact check