Early Tuesday morning around 1:30 am, Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after a large container ship hit one of the bridge’s support columns. Several vehicles and people working on the bridge at the time plunged into the water, immediately prompting a search and rescue as well as “shutting down one of the nation’s busiest ports.”
There are six people whose whereabouts still remain unaccounted for, per a press conference Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld held mid-morning today. “All six were part of a construction crew that was filling potholes on the bridge at the time…Two other workers were rescued from the water.”
When it struck the bridge, the container ship was moving at a speed of 8 knots, the equivalent of 9 mph. Experts predict that a quick response averted what could have been a larger disaster if authorities had “not stopped cars from going on to the bridge.”
ABC News obtained a Coast Guard memo, which detailed how “a harbor pilot and an assistant aboard the cargo ship reported the power issues that prompted multiple alarms on the bridge of the vessel and loss of propulsion. The pilots were operating the ship, not the ship’s captain.”
Someone who witnessed the collapse told CBS News Baltimore that the collapse caused his home to shake. He said it was outside of his “wildest dreams,” adding “[e]arthquake — sounded like a big bash of thunder…And then just like I said it felt like an earthquake, the whole house vibrated. Like my house was falling down.”
Governor of Maryland Wes Moore released a statement declaring a state of emergency. “[W]e are working with an interagency team to quickly deploy federal resources from the Biden Administration. We are thankful for the brave men and women who are carrying out efforts to rescue those involved and pray for everyone’s safety.”
Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott was on the scene, speaking with reporters this morning, calling the bridge collapse “an unthinkable tragedy,” continuing “We have to first and foremost pray for all of those who are impacted, those families, pray for our first responders and thank them.”
Scott also posted on X, writing “Baltimore, I am officially declaring a local state of emergency in response to the collapse of our Key Bridge. Our teams are mobilizing resources and working swiftly to address this crisis and ensure the safety and well-being of our community.”
According to government officials, the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which spans an approximately 1.5-mile-long distance, carrying “Interstate 695 over the Patapsco River” was “fully up to code.” The bridge was constructed in 1977, and “the structure was later named after the author of the American national anthem.”
The Maryland Transportation Authority estimates that around 31,000 vehicles traverse across the bridge every day, which equates to 11.3 million vehicles a year.