27 March 2024 , 16:14
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As soon as the first footage emerged of the shocking collapse of the Baltimore bridge, conspiracy theories began to emerge about the incident.
Complete ignorance of how boats and bridges actually work has empowered people to speculate wildly online about the causes behind the collapse.
Initial reports suggest as the cargo ship Dali was a few minutes out, it lost all power, including to its engines. The crew contacted the local authorities and police had just managed to close the Francis Scott Key Bridge before the impact happened in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
An investigation has been launched to find out exactly what happened but that hasn't stopped people spreading wild conspiracy theories about the whole thing.
READ MORE: Did boxer Ryan Garcia REALLY predict Baltimore bridge collapse after 'tweet' goes viral?
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A family looks at the steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sitting on top of the container ship Dali (AFP via Getty Images)From a doctored clip claiming the disaster was predicted by The Simpsons to mysterious cloned tweets all using the exact same wording but spreading disinformation, here are some of the wildest conspiracy theories out there so far.
That The Simpsons predicted the bridge disaster
The makers behind hit cartoon The Simpsons are often credited with being able to see the future having, among other things, predicted the Trump presidency in a 2000 episode.
Following the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, an edited clip appeared on social media appearing to show The Simpsons making another spot on prediction. In the clip, fictional newsreader Kent Brockman reads out the news of the bridge's collapse including the exact time and date it happened.
The clip appears to have been generated using AI and there is no evidence of the clip appearing in the actual show.
The remains of the bridge jutting out of the water (Sky News)In another clip, this time actually from the show, villain uses his 'doomsday device' to blow up a bridge in an attempt to blackmail politicians out of gold.
In the snippet from the 1996 Season 8, Episode 2 - You Only Move Twice - one of the men then jumps up and exclaims: "Oh my god! The 59th Street Bridge!"
Although mentioning a bridge being destroyed, it is referring to the Queensboro Bridge over the East River in New York City.
That boxer Ryan Garcia also predicted it
A tweet allegedly posted by boxer Ryan Garcia has gone viral, with people claiming the 2021 lightweight champion predicted the tragic Baltimore bridge collapse before it happened.
Of course he didn't.
TheMirror.com has checked Garcia's social media accounts and found no evidence of the post at the time of publishing. Many people took to the comments on the video to say it was fake.
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There were workers on the bridge at the time of the crash (AFP via Getty Images)Garcia, a popular boxer, has thrown himself into the of conspiracy theories lately, recently sparking kidnap fears after he shared wild rumours that a campground in California is the gathering spot for a satanic cabal of powerful men.
The 25-year-old, who is scheduled to fight Devin Haney on April 20 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, did post on X about the bridge collapse on Tuesday. He said: "First off I send my condolences to the people effected [sic] in this tragedy.
A conspiracy theory has emerged online claiming Ryan Garcia predicted the tragic bridge collapse in Baltimore (Getty Images)"Some things come to my mind seeing this. How long before they realised the boat has lost all control. Did they try to warn people on the radio. Could they not try to anchor the ship down, how many people were on that ship and why didn’t they try to get off the boat before it crashes like jump into the water.
"The bridge collapsed fairly fast and looked sus in a way due to the matter it collapsed. All speculation, but my heart goes out to the people who are injured and effected by this tragedy."
Authorities continue to investigate the cause of the crash.
Copy-paste social media posts sowing doubt
Social media is full of grifters who will monopolise a disaster to make things up about it.
A large number of posts on appeared to repeat the exact same phrase speculating if the crash was intentional.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge rests partially collapsed after a container ship ran into it (JIM LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)Dozens of posts which were shared widely included the phrase: "Notice the power losses smoke release and how the ship at 11 seconds abruptly changed course to slam into the bridge. There was no other maritime traffic, or marking issues. Human error? Equipment failure? Intentional?"
The posts also shared a picture of a Peugeot 3008 in the water as if it was from the tragedy in Baltimore. It was actually from a January 1, 2002 news story about an incident in Ireland.
The same handful of accounts later shared posts suggesting the whole thing was staged with multiple camera angles already set up.
That it was driven intentionally into the bridge
Many took to social media spreading the conspiracy theory that the Dali was driven intentionally into the bridge.
The footage of the crash appeared to show the boat turning sharply before the impact as well as smoke billowing from the tower chimneys.
Map shows where the Francis Scott Key Bridge is in relation to the port (Google)The crew members have reported the engine of the massive vessel cutting out leading to zero control over the behemoth. Dead in the water, the ship was at the mercy of its existing momentum and the tides of the Chesapeake Bay. Combined with winds hitting the ships massive surface area, cargo ships can quickly go off course.
Experts have speculated the smoke seen coming from the boat before the crash was the back up generators kicking in, enough to restore power but not enough to steer the boat.