Images showing a bridge collapsing in Nigeria are AI-generated

Published on August 6, 2025 at 12:55
Updated on August 6, 2025 at 13:06
3 min read
By Oluseyi AWOJULUGBE, AFP Nigeria

Natural or man-made accidents can be manipulated to stir emotions on social media. A viral post claims to show a bridge in Nigeria that collapsed three weeks after it was completed. While one of the beams of a newly constructed bridge in Nasarawa State recently collapsed, the structure remained upright; these images were generated using artificial intelligence.

“Lafia, Nasarawa State, has witnessed the collapse of a flyover a mere three weeks post-commissioning. According to reports, around N10 billion was spent on this project,” reads a post published on Facebook on July 24, 2025.

The post, shared about 650 times since it was published, includes several images that show the pillars of a bridge collapsing to the ground as cars drive under it.

Screenshot of the false Facebook post, taken on July 29, 2025

President Bola Tinubu inaugurated a flyover and underpass bridge in Keffi on June 25, 2025, during a state visit to Lafia, the capital of Nasarawa state in Nigeria’s north central (archived here).

Three weeks later, on July 19, David Umahi, the minister of works, announced a partial closure of the bridge after an accident involving a heavy-duty truck caused a beam to collapse (archived here). He also directed that the bridge be repaired within 30 days.

Local media reported that two people died in the accident (archived here).

However, the images shared on social media are not from the Keffi bridge.

AI video

Photos from the commissioning ceremony show that the bridge in Keffi is situated in the city centre, with houses on both sides. This is different from the view seen in the images, where trees line both sides of the bridge, and it is a less urban environment (archived here).

Screenshot showing the view from the Keffi bridge (left), in contrast to the view of the AI-generated Facebook video

AFP Fact Check found that a video showing the same scene as in the images is also circulating in India, with claims that it depicts a bridge collapse in Bihar. In Ethiopia, meanwhile, the video is being shared with claims that it shows a bridge collapsing due to an earthquake.

The images recently shared in Nigeria are stills taken from this video.

Several clues in the video indicate that the video is AI-generated.

First, the video shows a group of people running towards the collapsing structure rather than running in the opposite direction, as people would be expected to do in the event of a disaster.

Cars are also driving in the direction of the collapsing beam, rather than stopping.

To find the origin of the video, AFP Fact Check conducted a reverse image search using the Google Lens tool.

This led to a video published on Facebook on July 15, 2025, two days before the Keffi accident happened (archived here).

The caption of the original video indicated that it was created using artificial intelligence.

Screenshot matching features seen in the false Facebook post (left) to the AI-generated video

The account that published the video belongs to a gaming content creator who shares various videos — some labelled as being AI-generated — with over 42,000 followers.

The actual damage to the Keffi bridge was much less extensive than the scene in the AI-generated video, since the pillars did not collapse, as can be seen in this video report.