Baltimore Bridge Collapses After Cargo Ship Hit

BALTIMORE, USA (Worthy News) – One of America’s iconic bridges, a kilometers (miles) long bridge in the U.S. city of Baltimore, collapsed into the Patapsco River early Tuesday after being hit by a container ship, footage showed.

The Baltimore City Fire Department was at the scene early Tuesday local time, saying seven people and several vehicles fell into the water when the tragedy happened.

The fire department said a large vessel hit a column of the Francis Scott Key Bridge at around 01:30 Eastern Standard Time (05:30 Universal Time). Videos on social media showed the bridge descending into the water early Tuesday.

It was not immediately clear how many casualties there were, but a massive rescue and recovery operation was underway.

The 2,632.3 meters (1.6 miles) long steel arch-shaped continuous through truss bridge, which opened in 1977, spanned the lower Patapsco River and outer Baltimore Harbor carrying Maryland Route 695 in Baltimore, Maryland.

With the scene still covered in darkness, the local Maryland Transportation Authority said all lanes were closed in both directions for an “incident” on the bridge and later posted that traffic was being detoured.

The main span of 1,200 feet (366 meters) was reportedly the third-longest span of any continuous truss globally. It was also the longest bridge in the Baltimore metropolitan area.

SEARCHING VICTIMS

As rescuers continued to search for victims in the Patapsco River, footage emerged of the dramatic collapse, causing vehicles to fall into the water below.

The coastguard in Baltimore said the vessel that hit the bridge was a container ship flying under a Singapore flag.

The vessel, called “Dali,” was headed through Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, as its final destination, according to Marine Traffic and Vessel Finder maps and datacenter, Worthy News learned.

“At least seven vehicles, including at least one tractor-trailer-sized vehicle, have collapsed into the water,” Baltimore City Fire spokesman Kevin Cartwright confirmed with local broadcaster WTOP.

He added that a dive team was deployed to help those in the river, Worthy News monitored.

Baltimore Mayor Brendon Scott said he knew the situation and would be en route to the bridge with other city and state leaders. “Emergency personnel are on scene, and efforts are underway,” he said in a post on social media platform X, previously known as Twitter.

It was not clear why the cargo ship crashed into the bridge. The weather appeared to be cloudy with calm winds around the time of the accident, according to several weather reports observed by Worthy News.

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