Fact Check: Many Viral Photos Mislabel the Nov. 11, 2025 Hongqi Bridge Collapse — Here’s What’s Real

What happened

On Nov. 11, 2025 a recently completed Hongqi bridge in Sichuan province partially collapsed one day after officials closed it because of visible cracks and ground movement. Early reports, including Reuters, said there were no reported casualties in the immediate aftermath.

Why many social posts are misleading

Numerous images and stills circulating online since Nov. 11 have been miscaptioned or reused from unrelated incidents. Below are the main examples of mistaken identity:

• Houzihe Grand Bridge (Sandu County, Guizhou) — June 24, 2025: A widely shared photo of a red semi-truck teetering over a bridge edge is from the Houzihe Grand Bridge incident, not the Hongqi collapse. The image itself contains an embedded caption reading: "Sandu County, Guizhou Province, China June 24, 2025."
• Tunnel washed out by landslide (Sichuan) — Aug. 2024: Another photo showing emergency workers at the mouth of a washed-out tunnel was published by DW on Aug. 3, 2024 and relates to a landslide that damaged an expressway tunnel between Kangding and Ya'an.
• Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge (Guizhou) — opened Sept. 29, 2025: Many viral posts show a bright blue-green suspension bridge and label it the Hongqi collapse. That image is of the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge — a suspension crossing 625 meters above the Beipan River — not the Hongqi girder span.
• Another Hongqi bridge in Jilin: China has more than one bridge named "Hongqi." Photos of a Hongqi bridge over the Songhua River in Jilin City (northeast China) were incorrectly reused in coverage of the Sichuan collapse.

Technical note on the collapsed structure

The Hongqi span that partially failed in Sichuan is a girder bridge (deck supported by horizontal girders on vertical piers), not a suspension bridge. Construction photos and a schematic on highestbridges.com illustrate the girder design used at the Sichuan site.

How to verify images and avoid sharing misinformation

• Check embedded captions and timestamps on images.
• Use reverse-image search tools (e.g., Google Images, TinEye) to find earlier appearances of the photo.
• Compare visuals with reputable reporting (Reuters, AP, major outlets) and official local sources.
• Be cautious when posts mix unrelated still images with genuine video of the event.

Bottom line: The Hongqi bridge in Sichuan did partially collapse on Nov. 11, 2025 after being closed for visible cracks, and early reports indicated no casualties. However, many viral photos and captions circulated alongside coverage are from different dates, provinces, and structures — verify sources before sharing.

Key sources referenced

Reuters reporting on the Sichuan collapse; globaltimes.cn (Houzihe photo, June 24, 2025); DW (Aug. 3, 2024 tunnel landslide); NBC News (Huajiang bridge opening, Sept. 29, 2025); highestbridges.com (construction photos and schematic).