Cargo ship hits Baltimore’s Key Bridge, bringing it down. Rescuers are looking for people in water
BALTIMORE (AP) — A container ship rammed into a serious bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday, inflicting it to snap in a number of locations and plunge into the river beneath. Several automobiles fell into the chilly waters, and rescuers have been initially trying to find at the least seven folks.
Two folks have been pulled from the waters beneath the Francis Scott Key Bridge, one in critical situation, in keeping with Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace.
The cargo ship seems to have crashed into one of many bridge’s helps in the course of the center of night time when visitors could be anticipated to be lighter, in keeping with a video posted on X, previously generally known as Twitter. The vessel caught fireplace, and thick, black smoke billowed out of it.
“Never would you think that you would see, physically see, the Key Bridge tumble down like that. It looked like something out of an action movie,” mentioned Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, calling it “an unthinkable tragedy.”
The fireplace chief mentioned authorities “may be looking for upwards of seven people” however mentioned that quantity might change. It was not clear if the 2 rescued have been included within the seven.
Sonar has indicated that there are automobiles within the water, the place the temperature was about 47 levels Fahrenheit (8 levels Celsius) within the early hours of Tuesday, in keeping with a buoy that collects knowledge for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Earlier, Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, instructed The Associated Press that a number of automobiles have been on the bridge on the time, together with one the scale of a tractor-trailer truck.
He referred to as the collapse a “developing mass casualty event,” although he didn’t know on the time how many individuals have been affected.
Cartwright added that some cargo gave the impression to be dangling from the bridge, which spans the Patapsco River on the entrance to a busy harbor. The river results in the Port of Baltimore, a serious hub for delivery on the East Coast. Opened in 1977, the bridge is called for the author of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore declared a state of emergency and mentioned he was working to get federal sources deployed. The FBI was additionally on the scene.
Synergy Marine Group — which owns and manages the ship referred to as the “Dali” — confirmed the vessel hit a pillar of the bridge at about 1:30 a.m. whereas two pilots have been in management. It mentioned all crew members, together with the pilots, have been accounted for and there aren’t any experiences of any accidents.
From a vantage level close to the doorway to the bridge, jagged remnants of its metal body have been seen protruding from the water, with the on-ramp ending abruptly the place the span as soon as started.
A vessel referred to as Dali was headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, as its closing vacation spot, in keeping with Marine Traffic and Vessel Finder. The ship was flying beneath a Singapore flag, WTOP radio station reported, citing Petty Officer Matthew West from the Coast Guard in Baltimore.
In 2001, a freight prepare carrying hazardous supplies derailed in a tunnel in downtown Baltimore and caught fireplace, spewing black smoke into surrounding neighborhoods and forcing officers to briefly shut all main roads into town.
