MARYLAND: The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, a city in Maryland US,collapsed after a container ship crashed into the bridge early Tuesday.
Several vehicles which were present on the bridge at the time when the incident happened fell into the river. Maryland Governor Wes Moore has declared a state of emergency following the collapse of the bridge in Baltimore.
Videos on social media platform, X, show the 3-kilometer (1.6-mile) long Key Bridge, which carries Baltimore’s I-695 beltway, collapsing into the water. The vessel collided with one of the supports of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing the roadway to break apart in several places and plunge into the water.
According to the US Coast Guard’s 5th District, the vessel that hit Baltimore’s Key Bridge was a container ship, the DALI. “The 948-foot container ship, Dali, hit the Francis Scott Key bridge” at 1:27 a.m. ET “and it subsequently collapsed,” a spokesperson of the US Coast Guard Reaves said in a statement.
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There are reports of vehicles in the water, according to Reaves, who says the Coast Guard has deployed “multiple” response units for a search and rescue mission, and it is unclear if there are any casualties.
The ship caught fire, and thick, black smoke billowed out of it. “This is a dire emergency,” Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told The Associated Press. “Our focus right now is trying to rescue and recover these people.”
Emergency responders were searching for at least seven people believed to be in the water, Cartwright said, though he said it’s too early to know how many people were affected. He called the collapse a “developing mass casualty event.”
Local media reported that the water at the scene of the collapsed bridge is about 48°F (9°C) making rescue operations all the more urgent for anyone who may potentially be in the water.