Rescue crews search for survivors after ship destroys bridge in Baltimore

By Mark Pattison - Washington, DC

Rescue crews are still looking for people who may have fallen into a river in Baltimore, Maryland, after a ship in the Patapsco River hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed.

The incident happened Tuesday morning just before 1:30 a.m. local time, 6:30am in Rome. 

The bridge, built in 1977, spans about 8,500 feet, or nearly two kilometers. It serves as a critical artery for vehicle traffic in and around the Port of Baltimore, one of the busiest ports in the United States. It employs 15,000 workers and generates about $3.3 billion in revenue.

Baltimore is also home to the oldest diocese in the United States.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency. U.S. Coast Guard personnel joined Baltimore Fire Department crews in the search for possible victims. Emergency units expected to spend the rest of the day looking for survivors. One person rescued in the water was seriously injured and taken to a local trauma center. Another person recovered from the river refused treatment at the scene.

The ship, a Singapore-flagged vessel called the “Dali,” had just left the harbor after loading up with contents for trade. The container ship hit a support pillar for the bridge, which set off a chain of events with led to the collapse of the bridge. Smoke was billowing from the craft, but it did not sink, and all of the crew members have been accounted for. Unknown in the hours immediately following the collapse is how many cars may have been traveling on the bridge, and how many workers were on the bridge making overnight repairs.

At a pre-dawn news conference, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said, “We have to first and foremost pray for all of those who are impacted, those families, and pray for our first responders and thank them, all of them, [for] working together — city, state, local — to make sure that we are working through this tragedy."

The bridge is named after Francis Scott Key, who wrote the poem “The Star-Spangled Banner” – now the U.S. national anthem – after witnessing a battle in the Patapsco River between British and U.S. forces during the War of 1812.