Harrowing footage captured the moment Baltimore’s Key Bridge collapsed after being struck by a cargo ship, leaving five vehicles submerged in water and six construction workers missing.
Maryland authorities are using sonar detection devices to search for the crew members who fell into the 47F water as they were working to repair potholes on the 185-foot bridge when it collapsed.
Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency Tuesday morning following the catastrophic collision, which occurred at about 1.30am. The ship – the Singaporean-flagged Dali – was 20 minutes into its journey when it slammed into a support column on the bridge.
The Democrat said the ship’s crew managed to issue a Mayday before it crashed into the bridge, which allowed officials to stop cars from going on the bridge.
‘We’re thankful that between the ‘mayday” and collapse that-that we had officials who were able to-to begin the stop the flow of traffic so more cars were not up on the bridge,’ Moore added.
Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld said eight people were on the bridge when it collapsed, and two of them were rescued from the water, with one declining medical treatment and the other being taken to the hospital.
Officials said they have spotted five vehicles submerged under water thanks to infrared and side-scan sonar technology – three passenger vehicles, a cement truck and a fifth vehicle.
It remains unclear what led to the crash. Video shows the ship going dark seconds before the collision, suggesting a power failure on board. The crew of 22 remains onboard and is now being questioned by the Coast Guard.
In the latest update by officials, gov Moore said divers and air assets are currently working ‘to save lives’ and will update the public as the work continues.
‘I recognize that many of us are hurting and scared right now,’ the Democrat said just before 10am.
‘I want to be clear, we are still investigating what happened, but our preliminary findings points to an accident, we haven’t seen any credible evidence of a terrorist attack.’
FBI special agent in charge of the Baltimore office William DelBagno said ‘there is no specific or credible information to suggest there are ties to terrorism in this incident.’
The collapse is sure to create a logistical nightmare for months, if not years, for the East Coast, shutting down ship traffic at the Port of Baltimore and snarling cargo and commuter traffic.
According to The Baltimore Sun, the Dali was setting off on a particularly long voyage of 28 days because the crew wanted to go around South Africa to avoid the Red Sea, where Yemeni Houthi rebels have been attacking western ships to protest the war in Gaza.
Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who is on his way to Maryland, said on X: ‘I’ve spoken with Gov. Moore and Mayor Scott to offer USDOT’s support following the vessel strike and collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge.
‘Rescue efforts remain underway and drivers in the Baltimore area should follow local responder guidance on detours and response.’
It was not immediately clear what caused the cargo ship to crash into the bridge long before the busy morning commute in what one official called a ‘developing mass casualty event’ in a major American city just outside of Washington.
‘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,’ said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, calling it ‘an unthinkable tragedy.’
According to an early Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) report, the container ship ‘lost propulsion’ as it was leaving port.
‘The vessel notified MD Department of Transportation (MDOT) that they had lost control of the vessel and an allision with the bridge was possible,’ the report said. ‘The vessel struck the bridge causing a complete collapse.’
The ship crashed into one of the bridge’s supports, causing the structure to snap and buckle at several points and tumble into the water in a matter of seconds — a shocking spectacle that was captured on video and posted on social media. The vessel caught fire, and thick, black smoke billowed out of it.
The rescue effort incorporates Coast Guard ships, local police boats, Baltimore’s Fire Department, volunteer fire departments from the surrounding areas as well as teams of divers as the desperate search for survivors goes on.
There appeared to be an explosion on the container ship as it collided with the bridge sending container and diesel flooding into the water. One of the vehicles that fell to the water was a tractor-trailer.
The ship was not being piloted by its own crew but by local pilots who are used to specifically avoid accidents.
The ship involved is the 948 foot long Dali, a Singaporean-flagged container which could be seen on ship tracking websites positioned stationary under the bridge following the crash.
It left Baltimore’s Seagirt Marine Terminal at 12:24am, at 1:25am, is began to slow and diverted off of its course. The video shows lights going off on board just before the crash.
The Dali ship was bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka. It’s unclear what cargo it was holding. The vessel was due to land in Asia on April 27.
According to the ship’s owners, all crew members were accounted for with no injuries reported.
Around 30,000 vehicles use the bridge, which is named for the writer of the Star Spangled Banner, every day. It opened in 1977.
Sonar has indicated that there are vehicles in the water, where the temperature was about 47 degrees Fahrenheit in the early hours of Tuesday, according to a buoy that collects data for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Earlier, Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told The Associated Press that several vehicles were on the bridge at the time of the collapse, including one the size of a tractor-trailer truck.
The bridge came down in the middle of night when traffic would be lighter than during the day when thousands of cars traverse the span.
In the wake of the collapse, structural engineer and bridge designer Ian Firth told the BBC that it appears as the the ship ‘strayed’ rather to the side rather than going under the center of the bridge.
‘But for whatever reason it must have strayed off and has hit the support.’
‘The support is a very, relatively, flimsy structure when you look at it, it’s a kind of trestle structure with individual legs. So, the bridge has collapsed simply as a result of this very large impact force,’ he added.
In a separate interview with CNN, Cartwright said that structural engineers will need to study the condition of the bridge prior to the incident.
‘This is a very devastating incident in which these individuals have encountered so our hearts go out to each and every one of them, and we will be working valiantly throughout the early morning to address this,’ he said.
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 is not the first time the Dali has crashed. In 2016, the ship smashed into the dock in Antwerp, Belgium, as it was leaving the port for German city Bremerhaven during good weather.
The crash happened due to a mistake by the Master and pilot on board the ship, Vessel Finder reports.
The Dali suffered ‘sufficient damages’ in the stern, but remained afloat, while the dock was ‘seriously damaged’ at the time. No people were injured at the time and no oil spill was reported.