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A cargo ship smacked into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore Tuesday morning, bringing the bridge down, knocking vehicles into the city’s harbor and sparking a search and rescue effort to find at least seven people who fell in the chilly water.
Baltimore City Fire Department Chief James Wallace, in an early morning press conference with the mayor, said they are actively in a “search and rescue posture,” and at least seven people were in the water. That number might rise because they aren’t sure how many vehicles were involved, he said.
Chief Wallace said two people were removed from the water. One refused service and the other was transported to “an area trauma center” in serious condition.
“There are people in the water that we need to get out,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott said. In describing the scene, he said “it looked like something out of an action movie.”
The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed after being struck by a Singapore-flagged container ship, plunging multiple vehicles into the Patapsco River. Read more: https://t.co/B1QnHgo2UQ pic.twitter.com/eM6n7AzZZz
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) March 26, 2024
The Port of Baltimore issued a statement Tuesday morning confirming that cargo traffic has been suspended.
“Vessel traffic into and out of the Port of Baltimore is suspended until further notice. This does not mean the Port of Baltimore is shut down. We are still processing trucks inside of our terminals,” the Port of Baltimore said.
The FBI is on the scene, but there isn’t any indication so far of terrorism, the authorities said at the press conference.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has declared a state of emergency.
“I have declared a State of Emergency here in Maryland and we are working with an interagency team to quickly deploy federal resources from the Biden Administration,” he said in a post on X.
Multiple authorities have joined the effort to save drivers and people working on the bridge.
“Right now, it’s about focusing on the search and rescue,” Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. said.
“This is a dire emergency,” Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told The Associated Press. “Our focus right now is trying to rescue and recover these people.”
He called the collapse a “developing mass casualty event.”
He added that some cargo appeared to be dangling from the bridge, which spans the Patapsco River, a vital artery that along with the Port of Baltimore is a hub for shipping on the East Coast. Opened in 1977, the bridge is named for the writer of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Agencies received emergency calls around 1:30 a.m. reporting that a ship leaving Baltimore had struck a column on the bridge, according to Cartwright. Several vehicles were on the bridge at the time, including one the size of a tractor-trailer truck.
The temperature in the river was about 47 degrees Fahrenheit (8 degrees Celsius) in the early hours of Tuesday, according to a buoy that collects data for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
From a vantage point near the entrance to the bridge, jagged remnants of its steel frame were visible protruding from the water, with the on-ramp ending abruptly where the span once began.
About 31,000 vehicles a day use the Key Bridge, which carries the Baltimore Beltway, or Interstate 695, around Baltimore.
The ship is called “Dali,” according to Cartwright. A vessel by that name was headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, as its final destination, according to Marine Traffic and Vessel Finder. The ship was flying under a Singapore flag, WTOP radio station reported, citing Petty Officer Matthew West from the Coast Guard in Baltimore.
“All lanes closed both directions for incident on I-695 Key Bridge. Traffic is being detoured,” the Maryland Transportation Authority posted on X.
In 2001, a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed in a tunnel in downtown Baltimore and caught fire, spewing black smoke into surrounding neighborhoods and forcing officials to temporarily close all major roads into the city.
* This story is based in part on wire service reports.
• Maria Stainer can be reached at mstainer@washingtontimes.com.
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