In Baltimore, Maryland, the 2.57-kilometer Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after colliding with a Singapore-flagged cargo ship. The crew is safe but the search for the missing is underway. According to estimates from local firefighters, seven cars fell into the waters of the Patapsco River. Two people were rescued, reports CNN. One of them is in serious condition. Maryland Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency. “We have assembled a multi-agency team to rapidly deploy federal resources provided by the Biden administration as we continue to connect with relief providers and assess and respond to this tragedy,” Moore said. “All lanes are closed in both directions due to a crash on the I-695 Key Bridge. Traffic has been detoured,” the Maryland Transportation Authority wrote in a message during a news conference with the city’s police chief, Richard Worley.
Images of collapse and dynamics
It appears that half of the bridge is underwater. In this video from Raws Alert on X shows the collapse from another angle. A clip from Sky News shows the moment in which the bridge collapses. Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski said he was in contact with the fire chief and emergency operations director. The container ship had a breach in its hull which caused it to list on its side. The Dali ship that caused the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge appears to have lost power before colliding with one of the bridge's pylons. In a video taken by security cameras, the cargo ship is also seen emitting a column of black smoke before the collision. Several power losses were recorded, the first appears to have occurred at 01:24:32 local time for approximately 60 seconds. A minute later, the ship emits black smoke. The lights went out a second time two minutes before impact. The cargo ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge at 1:28:44 a.m., about half an hour after leaving Baltimore Harbor. The structure collapsed into the river four seconds later.
The Baltimore Bridge
The Baltimore Bridge opened in 1977 and is called the Key Bridge. It is a huge steel structure. The ship that hit it was the container ship Dali, 300 meters wide and flying the flag of Singapore. She was heading towards Colombo in Sri Lanka. The bridge, Francis Scott Key Bridge, is named after the author of the American national anthem. Four lanes, it is two miles long and the structure, strategic to the Port of Baltimore and the highest point of the Baltimore Beltway (Interstate 695, I-695), collapsed into the Patapsco River. Bno News has published another video showing the complete collapse of the bridge.
Victims and missing
Baltimore Fire Department spokesman Kevin Cartwright said it was not possible to confirm the number of casualties at this time. But he also described the collapse of the Francis Scott-Key Bridge as falling into the category of a “mass casualty event.” The water in Baltimore Harbor is currently 9 degrees Celsius according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The risk for those who fell in the water and survived is hypothermia. According to some sources, there were around 20 workers on the bridge at the time of the collapse.
Videos from: X /Photo ANSA/EPA JIM LO SCALZO)
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