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The 1.6-mile-long Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore caved in and sank into the Patapsco River early Tuesday morning when a cargo ship struck the span.
The four-lane Key Bridge is a major artery for the area and is an essential link to Baltimore City and I-695.
Crews searched for up to seven people who fell into the river after the bridge collapsed about 1:50 a.m., Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace told reporters at a news conference Tuesday morning. So far, crews have rescued two people, one unharmed and one in serious condition, according to reports. The water temperature Tuesday morning was about 48 degrees Fahrenheit.
Workers were making concrete deck repairs on the bridge at the time of the collapse, state Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld told reporters Tuesday morning, according to CNN.
“We know there were people on the bridge at the time of the collapse, working on the bridge, contractors for us,” Wiedefeld said.
Governor of Maryland Wes Moore declared a state of emergencyand said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that an interagency team will work to “rapidly deploy federal resources from the Biden Administration.”
WE Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was also released early Tuesday X, indicating that he had spoken with both Moore and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott.
“This is an unthinkable tragedy,” Scott said at a news conference Tuesday morning. “Our goal should be the preservation of life.”
the strike
The container ship Dali that hit the Key Bridge was chartered by Danish shipping company AP Moller – Maersk, CNN reported, but there were no crew or company personnel on board the ship. Instead, the ship is operated by Synergy Group, a charter boat company, according to CNN, and was flying the flag of Singapore.
Dalí was involved in an “incident” at the port of Antwerp in Belgium in 2016, port authorities told CNN.
But the ship was piloted by a local pilot, according to CNN, which is standard practice. Local pilots will take the boats through known channels in order to get them in and out safely to avoid incidents like the one on Tuesday morning.
No indication has been given for the exact cause, but officials were quick to say they did not believe terrorism was intended or acted. However, the FBI was on the scene Tuesday morning, according to multiple reports.
the bridge
The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed almost exactly 47 years to the day it opened to traffic.
Construction of the Key Bridge began in 1972, and vehicles began crossing it on March 23, 1977, according to the Maryland DOT website. The bridge cost $60.3 million at the time. It became the final links of I-695.
Named for the author of the Star Spangled Banner, the Key Bridge is the outermost of the three toll gates in Baltimore Harbor. More than 11 million cars cross the bridge every year.
