Baltimore Bridge Collapses After Horrifying Ship Crash Sends Cars Plunging Into Water
Six cars and one 18-wheeler were reportedly thrown into the cold waters below—and at least seven people are still missing.
A container ship crashed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge Tuesday at 1:30 a.m. local time, immediately collapsing the 1.6-mile-long structure. The nightmarish collision reportedly sent seven cars plunging into the water below, all of which Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace reports have yet to be extracted. Two people have been rescued so far, though authorities claim to be searching for at least seven more individuals.
Video of the Dali—the name of the container ship owned by the Singaporean Synergy Marine Group—shows it billowing thick smoke from its main stack as it approaches the bridge. Reports claim that the ship suffered a mechanical failure and lost power ahead of the collision, though this has yet to be confirmed.
The footage shows how quickly the entire structure collapsed after the Dali hit one of its support columns, which triggered a fire on the ship's deck. That fire appears to have been controlled relatively quickly, and all 22 members of the Dali are reportedly accounted for and safe.
It's still unclear if the people thought to be missing were civilians commuting through the bridge when it collapsed, or if they were part of the construction crew of "unknown size" performing maintenance on the bridge in the early hours of the morning. It's believed that one of the seven vehicles thrown into the water was an 18-wheeler.
Rescue drivers have had to face cold water temperatures, poor weather, and rough water conditions this morning, making rescue efforts much more difficult. A nearby buoy operated by NOAA reports the water temperature in the Patapsco River is just 47 degrees this morning.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency and claimed to be working with federal agencies to aid with rescue efforts. The Associated Press reports that the FBI visited the site but reported that the crash is not suspected to be a terrorist attack.
This is a developing story.
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