Fact Check: Viral video showing School children climbing on a collapsed bridge is not from Gujarat
Bridges in India are not merely structures of steel, stone, and concrete – they are vital lifelines. They connect not
Bridges in India are not merely structures of steel, stone, and concrete – they are vital lifelines. They connect not just roads, but lives, enabling children to reach schools, farmers to access markets, ambulances to reach patients, and communities to stay linked with each other. So when these bridges fall, they collapse the trust in the governing bodies. Recent incidents of bridge collapses seen across the country are proof of engineering lapses and also systemic neglect.
One such incident of a bridge collapse in Vadodara, Gujarat, raised questions about the commitment of Gujarat’s government. At least 12 people were killed and nine injured after multiple vehicles fell into the Mahisagar River and a tanker hung precariously on the edge, when a 43-year-old bridge collapsed in Vadodara, Gujarat.
After this incident, a video showing a few school children crossing a collapsed bridge was shared on social media with Gujarati text on the video claiming that the video shows a bridge collapse in Gujarat. The text on the video claims “ગુજરાતનો 30 વર્ષની વિકાસ વિદ્યાર્થીઓ તૂટેલા બ્રીજ પાર કરીને શાળાએ જવા મજબૂર “. When translated, it claims “30 years of development in Gujarat. Students forced to cross the broken bridge to go to School”.
Here is the screenshot of the claim.
Fact Check:
The viral video of school children crossing a collapsed bridge is not from Gujarat; the video is from Jharkhand.
When we extracted keyframes from the viral video, and searched them using Google reverse image search, we found several mainstream media outlets carrying the news. We found a YouTube video shared by a channel named Aiwa News on July 11, 2025, with the title “Jharkhand road per jaate hue bacche”.
According to a Times of India report, which shares the viral video, a viral video from Jharkhand's Khunti district has shocked us with the bitter realities of Indian villages despite being referred to as a "developing country". The video showcases school children climbing a 25-foot bamboo ladder daily just to get to their classrooms. The clip has gone viral on social media, raising widespread concern and citing the risky reality students have to endure day in and day out after the collapse of the Pelol bridge on the Simdega-Kolebira road. The bridge is an important connection for several villages and collapsed after heavy monsoon rains in June 2025. After the collapse, the only option for the students of the nearby school is to cross the damaged bridge using the bamboo ladder constructed by the locals.
The same video is also shared by The Economic Times, with the title ‘Collapsed bridge in Jharkhand’s Khunti leaves students to climb 25-foot bamboo ladder to reach school.’
According to Hindustan Times, the bridge on the Banai River at Pelaul village on the Khunti-Torpa main road collapsed on June 19 after heavy rainfall. Since then, vehicles have been operating on an alternative route. Reportedly, some local people, especially those without access to personal vehicles, are having trouble sending their children to school through the alternate route. Their kids are taking the risk by using the temporary wooden ladder constructed by the villagers on the broken bridge.
Hence, the viral video showing school children climbing a collapsed bridge to go to school is not from Gujarat; it shows a bridge on Banai River at Pelaul village in Khunti, Jharkhand. The claim is False.