LiveStream: Rescuers Search Water for Survivors After Ship Collides with Baltimore Bridge
A major bridge collapsed in the U.S. port of Baltimore in the early hours of Tuesday after being struck by a container ship, plunging cars and as many as 20 people into the river below.
Rescuers were searching for survivors in the Patapsco Riverafter huge spans of the 1.6-mile (2.57 km) Francis Scott Key Bridge crumpled into the water.
As many as 20 people could be in the river along with "numerous vehicles, and possibly a tractor-trailer or a vehicle as large as a tractor-trailer, (that) went into the river," Kevin Cartwright, the spokesperson for Baltimore City Fire Department, told Reuters.
"This is a mass-casualty, multi-agency event," he said. "This operation is going to extend for many days."
Livestream by StreamTime Live showing the collapsed bridge as search and rescue operation continues:
- Baltimore's Key Bridge Collapses After Ship Crash
- Ship That Collided with Baltimore Bridge Was Chartered by Maersk
A live video posted on YouTube showed the ship ploughing into the bridge in darkness. The headlights of vehicles could be seen on the bridge as it crashed down into the water and the ship caught fire. Reuters could not immediately verify the videos.
"We received several 911 calls at around 1:30 am, that a vessel struck the Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing the collapse," Cartwright said.
Baltimore police said they had been notified of the incident at 1:35 a.m. ET (535 GMT).
The container ship involved is the Singapore-flagged Dali which can carry just under 10,000 TEU (20 ft. shipping containers) and was operating on a 2M alliance service between Baltimore and the Far East, according to Xeneta – the ocean freight shipping rate benchmarking and intelligence platform.
Ship tracking data from LSEG shows a Singapore-flagged container ship, the Dali, at the location along the Key Bridge where the accident occurred. The registered owner of the ship is Grace Ocean Pte Ltd and the manager is Synergy Marine Group, LSEG data show.
Synergy Marine Corp said that the Dali collided with one of the pillars of the bridge and that all its crew members, including the two pilots, had been accounted for and there were no reports of any injuries.
Reuters could not immediately reach Grace Ocean for comment.
"All lanes closed both directions for incident on I-695 Key Bridge. Traffic is being detoured," Maryland Transportation Authority said in a post on X.
It was not immediately clear if the Baltimore port operations were impacted due to the collapse.
The port's private and public terminals handled 847,158 autos and light trucks in 2023, the most of any U.S. port. The port also handles farm and construction machinery, sugar, gypsum and coal, according to a Maryland government website.
The Baltimore port did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
"I'm aware of and en route to the incident at the Key Bridge... Emergency personnel are on scene, and efforts are underway," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott on X.
The bridge, named after Francis Scott Key, a lawyer and author, opened in 1977.
(Reuters - Reporting by Shubham Kaliam Harshita Meenaktshi, Shreya Biswas and Jyoti Narayan and Swati Verma in Bengaluru, Additional reporting by Christian Schmollinger and Arpan Daniel Varghese; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Philippa Fletcher, Gerry Doyle, Ros Russell and Nick Macfie)
