Viral video shows 'National Highway 44' in Jammu & Kashmir? No, it's from China

What is the claim?

Social media users have shared aerial footage claiming to show a bridge on Jammu and Kashmir’s National Highway 44 (NH-44). The 14-second video includes overlaid text with names of various towns and cities in Jammu and Kashmir, such as Leh, Patnitop, Baramulla, and Samba.

A verified user on X (formerly Twitter), Explore Bharat, shared the video with the caption: “Jammu & Kashmir NH 44, Jai Hind (sic).” The post garnered approximately 3,800 shares and 16,000 likes. 

Divya Bhaskar, a Gujarati-language daily, also shared the video, claiming it is from Jammu and Kashmir. Archived versions of similar claims can be found here, here, and here. 

Screenshots of the video used to claim it shows a bridge on the Jammu and Kashmir National Highway 44. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

This claim emerged amid the elections in Jammu and Kashmir, which are being held in three phases from September 18 to October 1, 2024, with results to be announced after October 5.

However, we found that the video is actually from China and does not depict NH-44 in Jammu and Kashmir.

What we found 

A reverse image search led us to a video (archived here) uploaded on September 9, 2020, by People's Daily China, a state-run media outlet. This video shows an identical structure and a river flowing between a gorge, matching the visuals in the claim. The description identifies it as the Beipanjiang Bridge, which connects China’s Yunnan and Guizhou provinces.

A comparison of matching frames from the viral clip with the 2020 People’s Daily China Report. (Source: X/People’s Daily China)

Using this information, we found a China Daily report (archived here) that includes matching images of the structure. The 2018 report confirms that the bridge, known as the world’s highest, was recognized by Guinness World Records for its height of 565.4 meters above the Beipanjiang Grand Valley and a span of 720 meters.

Additional news reports, available here and here, identify the bridge as the Duge Bridge, located in southwest China. It connects Duge Township in Guizhou with Puli Township in Yunnan Province.

We also verified the bridge's location on Google Maps (archived here), where the river flowing beneath it is labeled as the Beipan Jiang, as confirmed in the reports. This evidence clearly shows that the video is not from India.

To investigate further, we checked if a bridge is being constructed along NH-44 in Jammu and Kashmir. While a four-lane 'Ramban viaduct' is being built over the Chenab River on this highway, its design does not resemble the structure seen in the video. 

In 2023, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari shared images of an inaugurated stretch (archived here) pn his X account, but these images lack the suspension cables and the orange hue present in the viral clip.

Comparison of the four-lane project and the structure from the viral video. (Source: Nitin Gadkari/X)

The verdict 

A video depicting the Beipanjiang Bridge in southwest China has been falsely shared as footage of National Highway 44 in Jammu and Kashmir.