by Mick the Ram

A key bridge in the US city of Baltimore, Maryland, has collapsed into the Patapsco River after being struck by a Singapore-flagged container ship.

A Baltimore City Fire Department spokesman says the Francis Scott Key Bridge was hit by a vessel in the early hours of this morning and possibly as many as 20 people are thought to have fallen into the water, as well as several vehicles, including a large tractor-trailer.

All crew members, including the two pilots who were aboard the container ship, have been accounted for and there are no reports of any injuries from the vessel.

There is now an ongoing multi-agency rescue operation being led by the fire department, collaborating with the US Coastguard and other Maryland agencies, with helicopter presence and rescue boats at the scene.

All lanes are closed in the immediate area around the bridge, as early images emerged of its mangled wreck rising out of the river as daylight approached.

A state of emergency has now been declared.

Impact at 1.30am

The vessel involved was the 300m Singapore-flagged Dali container ship and was on its way to Colombo, in Sri Lanka. Shipping giant Maersk has confirmed it was charted by them and was carrying its customers cargo.

The ship collided with a central pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge at around 1:30am local time. On marine radars, it showed that the Dali departed from its terminal at Port Breeze, at around 12:45am, meaning that the impact occurred less than an hour later.

Concern for people who went into the river

Chief Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore City Fire Department confirmed that there continued to be great concern for seven individuals who are understood to have fallen into the river, although some reports have indicated there could be as many as twenty.

The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed they have deployed three response boats and pollution responders are also en route, because there is lots of diesel fuel in the water in the immediate area.

Police chief reports one person in serious condition

Baltimore Police Chief James Wallace was able to confirm that two people had been rescued from the water, but it is unclear if they were part of the seven initially reported.

He said one individual refused service and transport essentially as that person was not injured, but there was another individual that had been transported to a local trauma centre and was in a very serious condition.

He also was able to relay that sonar had detected the presence of vehicles submerged in the water, but he could not confirm a number.

Major disruption

The Maryland Transport Authority confirms that traffic is being diverted, either along the I-95 interstate through the city, or via the harbour tunnel. It is expected that as daylight breaks, there will be huge disruptions in and around the city.

Mayor calls it “unthinkable tragedy”

Baltimore mayor Brandon Scott says he is aware of the incident and is liaising with the authorities. He said: “This is a unthinkable a tragedy. We have to be thinking about the families and people impacted, folks who we have to try to find, this is what our focus should be on right now so we’re going to continue to work in partnership with every part of government to do everything we can to get us through the other side of this tragedy.”

One of longest bridges of its type in the world

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, known as the Key Bridge for short, opened in 1977 and was named after the author of the American national anthem. It is 3km (1.6 miles) long and is part of the 695 highway that circles the city of Baltimore.

Its main section spans 1,200 feet and was one of the longest continuous truss bridges in the world upon its completion, according to the National Steel Bridge Alliance.

Expert explains why collapse may have occurred

Ian Firth, a structural engineer and bridge designer said that a heavy ship like the Dali would have imparted a very large load of many thousands of tonnes when it hitting the bridge support.

He explained: “The support is a relatively, flimsy structure when you look at it, it’s a kind of trestle structure with individual legs. The vessel should have been going, of course, down the centre of the channel some 350 metres (1,150ft) wide, but for whatever reason it must have strayed off and has hit the support.”

Massive port will be hugely affected

Baltimore is the largest port in the US for specialised cargo especially for wheeled cargo, such as trucks and trailers. It is estimated that around 800,000 vehicles passed through the port in 2023, moving a record 1.3 million tons of imported cargo.