Misleading video of barges crashing into bridge shared as Typhoon Gaemi lashes Philippines

Published on July 29, 2024 at 04:00
3 min read
By Jan Cuyco, AFP Philippines

A video showing several barges crashing into a bridge in Pasig City east of the Philippine capital Manila has been shared in social media posts that misleadingly claimed it showed the Marikina Bridge in nearby Marikina City. The posts were shared as Typhoon Gaemi swept past the Philippines, intensifying seasonal monsoon rains in the north and causing heavy flooding and landslides.

"Flood in Marikina Bridge," read the caption of a Facebook video by a page with more than 9,600 followers on July 24, 2024.

It shows several barges being carried by a strong current before they slam into a two-lane bridge, partially damaging a section of the crossing.

Tagalog-language text overlaid on the video reads: "This is dangerous -- the barges might drag the bridge away."

A screenshot of the misleading Facebook post, taken July 25, 2024

The same video was also shared elsewhere on Facebook here and here and on TikTok here.

It was shared as Typhoon Gaemi intensified the country's seasonal monsoon, causing heavy flooding that shut government offices, suspended classes and cancelled more than 70 domestic and international flights.

Typhoon Gaemi exacerbated seasonal rains in the Philippines on its path to Taiwan, triggering flooding and landslides that killed 30 people, according to police figures on July 26.

While the clip was filmed as the typhoon swept past the Philippines, it does not show the Marikina Bridge.

Bridge in Pasig

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the video led to the same footage posted on the verified Facebook page of Philippine media outlet ABS-CBN News on July 24 (archived link).

Its Tagalog-language caption said: "Several barges carrying construction materials and heavy equipment were swept into the F. Manalo Bridge in Pasig during heavy rains on Wednesday, July 24, 2024".

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video shared in the misleading post (left) and the video posted by ABS-CBN News (right):

Screenshot comparison of the video shared in the misleading post (left) and the video posted by ABS-CBN News (right)

Other local media outlets, including Rappler and Inquirer.net, also posted the footage on their verified Facebook pages (archived links here and here).

The video is credited to Alex Rellosa, who posted it on her Facebook page earlier on July 24. Her video's caption says it shows the Caruncho Bridge -- which the F. Manalo Bridge is also known as -- in Pasig City (archived link).

Rellosa told AFP she took the video from the balcony of her flat near the bridge.

"I already heard screaming, that's why I went out to the balcony. I saw there were people stranded on the barges," she said on July 26.

Metadata on her video also confirms it was taken at 4:01 pm on July 24.

Features visible on Google Street View imagery of F. Manalo Bridge matched the footage shared online (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video used in the misleading post (left) and F. Manalo Bridge on Google Street View (right), with corresponding elements highlighted by AFP:

Screenshot comparison of the video used in the misleading post (left) and F. Manalo Bridge on Google Street View (right), with corresponding elements highlighted by AFP

The Marikina Bridge in Marikina City is a four-lane bridge approximately four kilometres (2.48 miles) north of the F. Manalo Bridge (archived link).

The Marikina river -- which is 27 kilometres long -- spans through different cities and flows through several bridges, including both F.Manalo and the Marikina bridges (archived link).

The Pasig City Public Information Office said in two separate advisories here and here that the F. Manalo bridge is temporarily closed until further notice due to the barge collision (archived links here and here).

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