Early Tuesday morning, a tragic incident took place in Baltimore, Maryland, when a container ship collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge, a crucial component of the city’s infrastructure. The collision resulted in the bridge’s steel arches disintegrating and falling into the Patapsco River, leading to a mass casualty event. The ship tracking data shows that the cargo ship involved in the accident was a Singapore-flagged vessel and its owners have confirmed the collision incident. Shocking footage captured the moment of the collapse around 1:30 am.
Watch here:
The exact number of vehicles on the 1.6-mile bridge at the time of the collision remains unknown. Kevin Cartwright, a spokesperson for the Baltimore City Fire Department, estimated that as many as 20 people, along with several vehicles, including a tractor-trailer or a vehicle of similar size, may have fallen into the river. Kevin Cartwright, the fire department’s director of communications, said, “The dive and rescue team has arrived on scene to locate the individuals.”
“This is a mass-casualty, multi-agency event,” he said. “This operation is going to extend for many days.” He said the main focus right now was “trying to rescue and recover these people”.
On Tuesday, Synergy Marine Group, the company that owns the container ship, said all crew members, including the two pilots, have been accounted for and there were no reports of injuries. The company said the exact cause of the incident is yet to be determined. David McFarlane, director of Maritime Risk and Safety Consultants Ltd, told Sky News that the most likely cause of the incident was a “failure in machinery or steering gear” rather than human error.