According to spectacular images captured by video surveillance cameras, a container ship crashed into a pillar puente Francis Scott Keycausing a large portion of the steel structure to fall into the Palapsco River.
Lights are seen, apparently from vehicleson the bridge before it deformed y fall in sections.
I also know several small explosions observed after the rapid collapse.
After the collision, around the 1:30 in the morning (05.30 GMT), it was put on a large emergency device is in place.
One person was taken to the hospital in “very serious condition,” Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said, and another was unharmed. “We may be looking for up to seven people,” he said.
It is “an inconceivable tragedy,” the city’s mayor declared Tuesday.
“We have to think about the families and people affected, about the people we have to find, and that is what we are focusing on right now,” added Brandon Scott at a press conference.
The emergency services searching the place have found signs of the presence of several vehicles submerged in the water, reported the city’s fire chief, James Wallace, without specifying how many there would be.
In any case, “there is absolutely no indication that there is terrorism, that this was done on purpose,” declared Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley.
Footage shows black smoke billowing from the ship’s chimney.
– “Sound of thunder” –
Maryland Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency and is trying to “rapidly deploy federal resources” from President Joe Biden’s administration, as posted on the social network X.
Divers search for survivors in the water, but the low temperature complicates rescue efforts and reduces the chances of survival.
Photographs of the site show remains of the bridge on the deck of the ship, where several containers were stacked.
A man who claims to have worked as a firefighter in Baltimore could see the bridge from his bedroom window.
“We were woken up by what seemed like an earthquake and a long, vibrant sound of thunder,” he told local media.
Emergency services are searching for at least seven people after the collapse of a bridge in Baltimore, the authorities of the American city announced at a press conference. One person was taken to hospital in “very serious condition” and another was unharmed. #AFP pic.twitter.com/6IkKOdKDKT
— Agence France-Presse (@AFPespanol) March 26, 2024
– “Pray for those affected” –
“Pray for those affected,” asked the head of Baltimore County, Johnny Olszewski Jr, in X.
The 2.6 km long, four-lane bridge crosses the Patapsco River southwest of Baltimore, an industrial and port city on the US Atlantic coast.
It was inaugurated in 1977 and more than 11 million vehicles circulate through it a year, about 31,000 a day.
The Maryland Transportation Authority told drivers to avoid the area, part of Interstate I-695, which it called an “active scene.”
Marine traffic website MarineTraffic says a Singapore-flagged container ship called “Dali” stopped under the bridge early on Tuesday.
Records show the ship was headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The cause of the collision is “yet to be determined,” reported officials of the Singapore-flagged ship “Dali.”
“All crew members, including the two pilots, have been located and there is no record of any injuries,” Synergy Marine Group stated in a statement published on its website.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on social media that he is in contact with the mayor of Baltimore and the governor of Maryland, and has offered federal help.
Baltimore is one of the busiest cargo ports in the United States, handling billions of dollars worth of vehicles, containers, forestry products and cargo, according to the city’s port authority.
Images of the emergency
Baltimore, bridge francis scott key
This looks deliberate, ship turns and hits dead center, also it revs up, see exhaust from chimney,
somehow traffic stops crossing just before impact? those flashing lights on bridge to the right are construction workers vehicles, God bless 🙏 pic.twitter.com/iuxItLzcff— Pat Murphy (@PatMurp47623738) March 26, 2024
BREAKING: Ship collides with Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing it to collapse pic.twitter.com/OcOrSjOCRn
— BNO News (@BNONews) March 26, 2024
#Boat #collides #bridge #Baltimore #brings