Fake '911 Call From Baltimore Bridge Collapse Survivor' Sadly Goes Viral

A video claiming to contain a "911 call" from a driver who reported being on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday morning at the time of its collapse has gained social media traction. 

Thankfully keen observers have deemed the entire conversation fake. One particular aspect of the 'call' that raised eyebrows immediately was how calm the 'caller' seemed to be.

Seemingly, someone in that situation would have had a much more frantic tone in their voice, if they were even able to dial 911 in that situation at all.

A TikTok shared on Wednesday featured what was described as a phone conversation between a 911 operator and a "survivor" of the Baltimore Bridge incident. 

In the clip, which came with a superimposed image of the collapsed bridge and a police officer, the caller is heard saying, "I'm underwater, I'm drowning, I'm so scared, my car is sinking."

When asked for his location, the supposedly panicked caller claims to be "under the Baltimore Key Bridge" which "collapsed while I was driving."

Explaining what he meant by the bridge had collapsed, the supposed survivor is heard saying, "I don't know it was like something hit it. Uh, my car is filling up fast with water. Help me. Now please help me."

The 911 dispatcher then instructs him to "try and open the door or break a window to get out," to which he asserts that "the door won't budge" due to it being "jammed or something."

However, he suggests that he will attempt to break the window — which he successfully does, but, Unfortunately, as he claims, "Water is rushing in faster now."

Ultimately, the caller purportedly "swam out," and added that he is "holding on to a piece of the bridge," which has been destroyed. 

At this point, the dispatcher realizes what is happening and states, "Oh, my god you're right. I see it on the news. Okay, hold on tight, I send the signal. The help is on the way."

It's very upsetting that a video like this has been created, given the actual loss of life and complete devastation the city and residents of Baltimore are dealing with.

Sadly, some people were tricked by the false social post, and this video in particular has already been shared almost 5k times within the 6 hours its been live.

Amid the TikTok video gaining more than 3 million views, variations in accent, tone, and speech patterns suggest artificial creation, suggesting that its content is fake.

This estimation was backed by an A.I. expert contacted by Newsweek, who analyzed its data and shared their observations. As Professor Manjeet Rege, Director of the Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence at the University of St. Thomas, declared, several indicators can reveal a fake 911 call.

"One sign is unnatural speech patterns—AI-generated speech may lack the natural variations, disfluencies, like 'uh' or 'um', and emotional nuances present in real human speech, sounding overly monotonous or robotic," Professor Rege stated.

After noting that "another potential giveaway is abnormalities in the background noise," he added:

"Real 911 calls will have consistent background noises matching the reported scenario, while AI fakes may have inconsistent, unrealistic, or lack of appropriate background audio."

It also does not help that, according to Rege, "there is variation in one person's voice that shouldn't exist."

Rege was not the only person who noticed the inconsistencies in the 911 call. Multiple TikTok users also pointed out their distrust of the call in the original post's comments section.

"Why does this sound so fake," one person wondered, as another asserted, "doesn't even sound real," and a third expressed, "No way they are AI generating this now."

A fourth person commented, "He "swam out" and was "holding on to a piece of the bridge" in pitch dark, freezing water and holding his phone? and swimming? after a bridge collapse."

At the same time, this social media personality quipped, "As someone who lives in Baltimore I want to know this guy's phone carrier. No service on that bridge ever," and yet another chimed in:

"This has to be Ai, the operator doesn't sound professional and why is she watching the news??"

The scrutiny of the call comes on the heels of The Blast reports that the massive cargo ship responsible for the collapse of the Baltimore Bridge has a reputation.

Per one internet citizen, the ship called the Dali, is the same one “that crashed into a port in Belgium” some years ago.

The incident allegedly occurred in 2016, when the cargo ship supposedly collided with a stone loading pier as it was departing the port in Antwerp.

The collision reportedly damaged the ship’s stern, and a subsequent investigation concluded that the incident resulted from an error made by the ship’s master and pilot.

Fortunately, no injuries were reported in the accident. However, the Dali required repairs and a thorough inspection before resuming service.

As officials continue unraveling the mystery surrounding the Dali's latest crash, one source suggested that the incident might be linked to mechanical failure. They emphasized that accidents at sea, referred to as marine casualties, are not uncommon.

Notably, the Dali's case was particularly unusual as it fell under the category of "allisions," which occur when a moving object collides with a stationary one. Such events often result in severe consequences.

The source also shared that investigating the power loss aboard the Singapore-flagged vessel would be of utmost importance. This is especially significant due to a video that surfaced on social media, showing the lights on the Dali flickering off and then back on before abruptly shutting off again.

Allegedly, a power loss occurred before the cargo ship struck one of the support pillars, triggering the chain reaction that led to the collapse of the bridge into the river.