Early Tuesday morning, a segment of a crucial Baltimore bridge, vital for both highway traffic and East Coast shipping, collapsed following a collision with a container ship. The impact resulted in individuals being thrown into the water.
This incident prompted an extensive search-and-rescue effort, with the number of individuals in the Patapsco River remaining uncertain. Kevin Cartwight, Director of Communications for the Baltimore City Fire Department, informed NPR that seven individuals had fallen into the river and were currently being sought. The collision and subsequent collapse were described as an unfolding “mass casualty event” by The Associated Press.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott confirmed that emergency responders have been deployed to the site.
According to U.S. Coast Guard public information officer Matthew West, the vessel involved in the collision was the Dali, a 948-foot container ship. The Singapore-flagged ship departed from Baltimore at 1 a.m. and was en route to Colombo, Sri Lanka, as reported by MarineTraffic, a marine data platform.
As a consequence of the incident, traffic in both directions has been halted, as announced by the Maryland Transportation Authority on X.
Spanning 1.6 miles, the bridge, named after the author of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” was inaugurated in 1977. Situated approximately 45 miles northeast of Washington, D.C.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge serves as a significant connection over the city harbor in the northeastern United States. As per the Maryland Department of Transportation, it spans over 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) and features four lanes.
In 2023, the port’s private and public terminals managed 847,158 cars and light trucks, making it the highest number among all ports in the United States. Additionally, the port handles various commodities such as farm and construction machinery, sugar, gypsum, and coal, as outlined on the Maryland State Government website.