Did Felix Chisakadi's company build a bridge that collapsed?

1. What actually happened: a Chinese bridge collapsed after landslides

On 11 November 2025 a section of the newly opened Hongqi Bridge in Sichuan province partly collapsed, sending huge plumes of dust and concrete into the gorge below; authorities said the bridge had been closed the day before after cracks appeared and that subsequent landslides on the mountainside caused the failure, with no immediate reports of casualties ^{[1] [2] [5]}.

2. How major news organizations and investigations describe the cause

Reuters, BBC and local officials report that worsening terrain conditions and landslides — not a simple structural defect reported as a contractor’s malpractice — led to the collapse; geological instability, shifting slopes and rising impoundment water at the site are flagged in technical commentary as likely contributors ^{[1] [2] [6]}.

3. Viral claim examined: links to Félix Tshisekedi and a DRC bridge

Social posts and a few outlets repeated a claim that President Félix Tshisekedi’s family-run firm built a bridge that collapsed on its opening day for $2.2 million. The claim appears in online pieces and social media screenshots, but mainstream reporting about the Hongqi Bridge collapse makes no mention of Tshisekedi, the DRC, or any African contractor — instead the covered incident is the Chinese Sichuan collapse ^{[7] [4] [1]}.

4. What fact-checking and reputable outlets say about the viral post

IBTimes and other reporting that covered the social-media assertion also pointed out problems: the video circulating with the claim may not be connected to any DRC government project, and earlier reporting has shown a pattern of unrelated or repurposed footage being shared as evidence in viral posts. IBTimes explicitly notes an earlier, unrelated miners’ makeshift bridge collapse in Lualaba province that was conflated by online posts ^[4].

5. Technical context: why Hongqi’s site was vulnerable

Technical observers and geomorphology notes show the Hongqi site presents complex, steep terrain with signs of paleolandslides, fractured rock and rapidly rising reservoir levels after impoundment — conditions that can make even newly built structures vulnerable to slope failure. Satellite imagery and on-site assessments cited these geological risks as central to the collapse narrative ^{[6] [3]}.

6. Competing narratives and incentives to mislead

There are competing narratives: Chinese media and engineers emphasize geological causes and prior closure warnings ^{[1] [2]}, while some analysts frame the event as symptomatic of rushed projects and systemic regulatory gaps in infrastructure delivery ^[8]. Separately, disinformation-prone outlets and social posts have motives — political or sensational — to conflate unrelated collapses or to tie high-profile leaders to apparent corruption or incompetence ^{[7] [4]}.

7. What the current sources do not show

Available sources do not mention any verified link between Félix Tshisekedi’s company or family and the Hongqi Bridge in Sichuan, nor do they confirm that a DRC bridge built by his company collapsed on its opening day; the mainstream incident reported in these sources is the Hongqi Bridge landslide-related failure in China ^{[1] [2] [4]}.

8. Bottom line and practical takeaway for readers

The documented bridge collapse in November 2025 occurred in Sichuan province and is attributed by officials and multiple reputable outlets to landslide and geological instability rather than to a DRC-based firm linked to Félix Tshisekedi. Viral social-media claims tying the Chinese footage to a Congo project and Tshisekedi’s family are unsubstantiated in the reporting cited above and should be treated as unverified until independent investigations or reliable sources demonstrate a direct connection ^{[1] [2] [4]}.