A major Baltimore bridge collapsed like a house of cards early Tuesday morning after it was struck by a container ship, sending several vehicles plunging into the dark water below, sparking an intense search for survivors and shutting down one of the nation’s busiest ports.
Moore said the cargo ship, Dali, notified authorities that it had lost power and issued a mayday moments before the 984-foot vessel slammed into a bridge support at a speed of eight knots, which is about nine miles per hour.
Meanwhile, rescue crews using sonar detected at least five vehicles in the frigid 50-foot-deep water, including three passenger cars, a cement truck and another vehicle of some kind, Moore said. Authorities do not believe anyone was inside the vehicles.
An unknown number of workers were doing repairs on the bridge when the ship hit a support pillar, and at least six people were still believed to be missing, Moore said.
“This is still, very much, a search and rescue mission,” he said during an afternoon news conference flanked by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md.
Earlier, two workers were rescued from the water, Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said.
One was in good condition and refused treatment, Wallace said. The other was seriously injured and was being treated in a trauma center.
Moore said there might be drivers in the water were it not for the “folks” who, upon hearing the mayday, blocked off the bridge and kept other cars from crossing.
“These people are heroes,” Moore said. “They saved lives. They saved lives.”
Nearly eight years ago, the Dali was involved in another collision. In July 2016, the ship collided with a quay at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges in Belgium, damaging the quay.
The nautical commission investigated the accident, but the details of the probe were not immediately clear Tuesday.
The Dali is operated and managed by a company called Synergy Group. In a statement, the company said two port pilots were at the helm of the Dali at the time of Tuesday’s crash and that all 22 crew members onboard were accounted for.
The bridge, which is about a mile-and-a-half long and carries Interstate 695 over the Patapsco River southeast of Baltimore, was “fully up to code,” Moore said.
A 24-person team of National Transportation Safety Board investigators was already at the crash site.
NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said that her agency will lead the investigation into the cause of the bridge collapse. She said a data recorder on board the ship could provide more information about what happened.
“But right now we’re focusing on the people, on the families,” she said. “The rest can wait.”
President Joe Biden vowed to rebuild the bridge and send federal funds.
“This is going to take some time,” Biden warned. “The people of Baltimore can count on us though to stick with them, at every step of the way, till the port is reopened and the bridge is rebuilt.”
Speaking in Baltimore, Buttigieg echoed the president’s promise.
“This is no ordinary bridge,” he said. “This is one of the cathedrals of American infrastructure.”
But Buttigieg warned replacing the bridge and reopening the port will take time, cost money, and could affect supply chains.
The Port of Baltimore is the 11th largest in the U.S. and the busiest port for car imports and exports, handling more than 750,000 vehicles in 2023 alone, according to data from the Maryland Port Administration.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore declared a state of emergency and said the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge was most likely the result of an accident and not an act of terrorism.
“Our state is in shock,” the governor said.
A search-and-rescue operation is ongoing after a container ship collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, causing its partial collapse.
NBC News
