# Source note — Second Narrows Bridge collapse Reel

Original Instagram URL: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcPGqCyDb6h/?igsi=NnVhNXZyM2N1cHl3
Captured: 2026-08-20

Visible account: `oldvancouver` / Old Vancouver Series.

Recovered Instagram metadata:

- ID: DcPGqCyDb6h
- Title: Video by oldvancouver
- Uploader: Old Vancouver Series
- Channel/account: oldvancouver
- Like count at capture: 285
- Comment count at capture: 10

Visible caption:

> On June 17, 1958, two spans of Vancouver’s Second Narrows Bridge collapsed during construction, sending 79 workers plunging into the Burrard Inlet. Nineteen people died, making it the city’s worst industrial disaster.

## Video / transcript note

The recovered Reel appears to use old newsreel/archival footage. The auto transcript says the bridge under construction fell without warning, first one span and then another, and says frogmen/rescuers searched the waters and wreckage. The transcript gives the project as a $16 million structure, says “some 40 men” were on the section, and reports “18 dead, another 20 men injured.”

That differs from the Instagram caption and multiple public search-result/source trails that say 19 workers/people died. NewsForBC labels the discrepancy rather than smoothing it over.

## Source context preserved

- City of Vancouver Archives search page for “Second Narrows Bridge collapse,” showing archive holdings and image/item entries related to the collapse.
- YouTube search capture for “Second Narrows Bridge Collapse 1958,” showing BC History newsreel/home-movie results and snippets using both 18- and 19-death counts.
- yt-dlp metadata for YouTube search results.

## Limits

- Google search was CAPTCHA-blocked and The Canadian Encyclopedia request returned a CloudFront 403 in this environment.
- NewsForBC did not independently identify the original newsreel owner from the Reel alone. Visible frame marks looked Canada/archive-like but not fully legible.
- The article treats Instagram comments as memory/testimony leads, not verified records.