Major Baltimore Bridge Collapses after Ship Collides with Piling; Search-and-Rescue Efforts Underway
A major bridge in Baltimore, Md. collapsed early Tuesday morning after a cargo ship collided with one its pilings, setting off search-and-rescue efforts which are still underway, the Coast Guard and local police said.
Horrifying video of the incident posted on social media shows the 948-foot-long cargo vessel Dali striking a pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge — part of Interstate 696 — around 1:30 a.m., causing the entirety of the 1.6 mile bridge to topple into the water below.
It’s unclear exactly how many people were on the bridge when it collapsed, but Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said first responders were searching for “upwards of seven people.”
Two people have been rescued and one of them remains in “very serious condition,” Wallace said. Federal, state and local agencies are coordinating search and rescue across a large section of the river and the ship itself. A spokesman for the Baltimore city fire department told Reuters 20 or so people could be in the river alongside numerous vehicles.
The Dali is a Singapore-flagged container ship managed by Synergy Marine Group, according to LSEG ship tracking data reviewed by Reuters. The company said all of its crew members have been accounted for and there were no injuries. What caused the accident is yet to be determined.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore (D) declared a state of emergency and said he is working with the Biden administration on deploying federal resources.
“I have declared a State of Emergency here in Maryland and we are working with an interagency team to quickly deploy federal resources from the Biden Administration,” Moore stated. FBI personnel are on the scene but there is no reason to believe terrorism played a role in the bridge collapse.
“All lanes closed both directions for incident on I-695 Key Bridge. Traffic is being detoured,” the Maryland transit authority said on X. The bridge opened in 1977 and it is named after Francis Scott Key, the author of the Star Spangled Banner.
Data from ship tracking service Marine Traffic shows at least 40 ships remain inside the Baltimore port and at least 30 other ships have signaled Baltimore as their destination.