A ship crashed into a bridge support early Tuesday morning, causing the bridge to collapse.
At 1:27 A.M. Tuesday, a cargo ship collided into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, a span carrying Interstate 695 (the Baltimore Beltway) over the Patapsco River. The exact cause of the crash is unclear, though a video capturing the incident shows the 948-foot ship, known as the Dali, possibly experiencing power issues prior to the accident.
According to a statement by the U.S. Coast Guard, there were reports of people in the water after watchstanders received an emergency report that the Singapore-flagged container ship collided with the Key Bridge. Response boat crews deployed to the scene for an active search and rescue, while the Coast Guard urged other mariners to stay away from a 2,000-yard safety zone established in the surrounding waters around the crash site.
Later Tuesday morning, Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace said up to eight dive teams were in the water performing search and rescue operations, and that five vehicles submerged in the water were found, including at least three passenger vehicles and a cement truck. Maryland’s Transportation Authority confirmed eight people were on the bridge at the time of the collapse, and six of those people were missing as of 8:30 A.M. ET Tuesday morning. One person is in the hospital, while the other one is accounted for with no injuries.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore says the emergency call from the Dali gave officials time to close the bridge to additional vehicle traffic before the ship hit it. “I’m thankful for the folks, once the warning came up and once notification came up that there was a mayday, who literally by being able to stop cars from coming over the bridge — these people are heroes. They saved lives last night,” he told reporters.
President Biden received a briefing on the accident, and addressed the collapse from the White House around 12:45 P.M. Tuesday afternoon. While he said earlier on that, “I’ve directed my Administration to ensure every federal resource is available to assist search and rescue efforts and response to this terrible incident,” he also said in his remarks that there is no indication this collapse was the result of an intentional act.
“It’s my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge,” he said in his afternoon address. “I expect the Congress to support my effort — this is going to take some time.”
While it’s clear the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge will be a major problem for commuters and ship traffic, it’s unknown at this time what the full impact will be, or how long it may take to rebuild the bridge. Prior to Tuesday’s collapse, the 8,636-feet bridge carried over 11.5 million vehicles annually.
The MTA advises drivers in the area to avoid I-695 and use I-95 or I-895 as detours.
