Viral image doesn't show Baltimore bridge before collapse; photo is decades old | Fact check
The claim: Image shows figure on Baltimore bridge before its collapse
A March 27 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a photo of what is purportedly the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore along with an enlarged view of one of the structure’s towers. A black mass appears to be attached to one side of the tower.
“Someone shared this photo of a black figure on the bridge before it collapsed,” reads part of the post's caption.
The post was shared more than 100 times in two days.
Fact check roundup: Baltimore bridge collapse sparks many misleading claims online. Here's what's true and false.
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Our rating: False
The bridge in the image is not the Francis Scott Key Bridge, and the image predates the collapse in Baltimore by more than two decades.
Image in post does not show Key Bridge
The 1.6-mile Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed into the Patapsco River early on March 26 after a cargo vessel leaving the Port of Baltimore struck one of its columns. But that bridge is not shown in the Facebook post.
Upon closer inspection, the structure shown in the post bears little resemblance to the Key Bridge. It is painted light blue, has two towers supported by thick columns and leads to a wooded, hilly area.
Fact check: Viral image of submerged car isn't from Baltimore bridge collapse
The Key Bridge was a much lighter color. It lacked multiple towers and instead peaked at its center. Its columns differed in shape from those shown on Facebook, and there are no hills or major wooded areas visible in images of the surrounding area of metropolitan Baltimore.
Instead, the bridge shown in the post appears to match photos of a structure that spanned the Ohio River between Ironton, Ohio, and Russell, Kentucky, before it was demolished.
The image at the root of the post has circulated since at least 2008. The version shown on Facebook is cropped to remove a timestamp that indicates the photo was taken Nov. 13, 2003.
Most other iterations of the image in the post are connected to an urban legend known as the “Mothman” – a mythical creature that gained worldwide exposure in the 2002 Richard Gere film “The Mothman Prophecies.” That urban legend links sightings of it to a different bridge disaster – the 1967 collapse of the Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.
The collapse in Baltimore has spawned significant amounts of misinformation online. Among the false claims debunked by USA TODAY are assertions that it was a "false flag" operation and that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called the structure "racist."
USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post but did not immediately receive a response.
Lead Stories also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources:
Washington Post, March 26, In photos: Baltimore’s Key Bridge collapses after container ship crash
GoFishBaltimore.com, accessed March 29, Francis Scott Key Bridge
The Baltimore Banner, March 26, Was Key Bridge designed to withstand impact of a cargo ship crashing into it? Engineers raise doubts.
USA TODAY, March 28, Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapses, struck by a cargo ship
Bridges and Tunnels, accessed March 29, Francis Scott Key Bridge
Bridges and Tunnels, accessed March 29, Ironton-Russell Bridge
HistoricBridges.org, accessed March 29, Ironton-Russell Bridge
WCHS-TV, May 17, 2017, Live stream of Ironton-Russell bridge demolition
Unusual Kentucky, June 22, 2008, Mothman Sighting in Russell
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Claim misrepresents old image as showing Baltimore bridge | Fact check