Baltimore's Key Bridge collapses due to ship strike, crews search water for multiple people

DUNDALK, Md. —

The governor declared a state of emergency and a search-and-rescue operation is underway after Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed overnight as a result of a ship strike.

"This is an unthinkable tragedy," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said at a news conference early Tuesday morning.


"We all awoke this morning to an unspeakable tragedy," Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski said at a news conference early Tuesday morning. "We have a long road ahead not just in the search and rescue but in the fallout after this."

The collapse was reported around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. The 1.6-mile bridge carried the Baltimore Beltway\Interstate 695 over the Patapsco River.

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/baltimore-bridge-collapse-key-bridge/60303975

This is the major bridge across the Patapsco River at the entrance to Baltimore harbor. Besides causing major traffic headaches, it would also appear to stop shipping via Baltimore until the debris is removed from the River.

 

Why don’t Americans talk of the tragedy of the lives lost?

 

Wallace said officials believe as many as seven people may be unaccounted for preliminarily.

Most of the article is about search and rescue operations. Luckily the collapse was in the middle of the night when traffic was very light. The search, rescue, and recovery will be a one or two day story. The economic disruption will continue. From another source:

The Baltimore port handled 847,158 autos and light trucks in 2023, the most of any US port for the 13th straight year, according to a state of Maryland website. The port also handled large volumes of imported sugar, gypsum and coffee, as well as exported coal.

 

Saw the video of it, that ship was carrying very heavy cargo, it had juggernaut like momentum.

 

They can route traffic around the bridge. It just slows down trips and adds to congestion on the other I-95 splits in the area. The Port of Baltimore is really unaffected other than the congestion on the other routes may create some jambs.

 

Yes Eclectic, the primary goal is the search and rescue and every resource available (from local to federal) for that operation is active. The key Bridge is an easy pass bridge, so I would assume they are also looking up license plates of people that would’ve been on the bridge at that time.

Our port is a major player on the world stage and there will be disruptions. We are the largest port in the US that can handle specialized cargo like tractor trailers, petroleum products and cars.


Lots of agencies coming together to assist in rescue of the unaccounted and to mitigate the devastation of this accident. Thank goodness we can chew gum and walk at the same time.

 

I saw the video. Totally unbelievable.

I wonder if there was a malfunction, or someone had their head in his ass.

I'm betting malfunction. These harbor pilots are supposed to be the best of the best.

 

They were all Indian. They're just showing off how its done in their home country. Whether it's spaghetti code, dumping garbage into rivers, having their submarines sinking due to not having the hatch sealed, etc. This is the future of the west with these people.

 

The footage is astonishing, it really looks like a disaster movie.

 

Typically any cargo ship in US harbors are under control of a local pilot. Was that not the case here?

 

Don’t assume we all think the same. My first thought was how many people involved and the second thought was thankfulness it was 1:00 am instead of 7:30 am or 5:00 pm.

 

They were good thoughts. I saw this reported here before it was posted on the board mostly because of the time difference

 

Here's Biden doing his best Brian Williams impersonation. Video at the link below.

 

Seems like some sort of engine problem.

 

Thanks for caring about life. The US is a “things” oriented consumerist society for sure. You aren’t wrong about that.

 

This is a construction error. Bridge footings should be set on an island, natural or man-made, so if there is an accident like this, the barrier will take the hit, and save the bridge.

 

That's what's being reported. The pilot(s) called in a mayday saying they no longer had control of the boat.

 

My thoughts too. I was amazed at the low casualty account. Then heard that the ship reported the problem and the bridge was closed quickly so some praise should be given there. To talk about loss of income so soon is really in bad taste. The last I heard was six lives lost

 

The FSK doesn't have train tracks...lol.

Biden couldn't tell the truth if his life depended on it.

 

It just goes to show you that no matter how carefully you plan your day to avoid problems, random chaos can send a ship hurling into the bridge you are crossing and kill you dead. How long can you breathe underwater before you die? It's like what 5 minutes? There's no way any of the people who are missing survived this. You'll probably last 30 minutes or less, even if you're lucky enough to be trapped in your car with an air bubble to breathe. And it's been several hours now. What a tragedy!

 

Oh. Thanks. I hadn’t heard about the closure. Watched a video early this morning and that’s about all I’ve looked at except this thread. Apparently they had a good contingency plan and it worked.

 

it was - at least one local pilot onboard. However, for those who can only view events through the lense of race & politics all they can see is the Indian crew....or somethingto do with Biden or his Administration.

 

The video shows that a few seconds before the collision, the lights on the cargo ship turned off. So it's not a steering error. There was either some kind of accident on board or a terrorist attack.

 

Or they had a power outage due to engine failure. (Just saying.)

So how about you concentrate on asking questions about the failure of authorities to prevent a major terrorist attack in your own country rather than making up false claims about fake attacks someplace else?

 

The bigger disaster, that no one will talk about, is Baltimore, the city that surrounds that bridge.


Although Baltimore is only less than an hour north of the nation's capital D.C., on the I-95 corridor to New York City, things are so bad there it's actually considered part of the periphery of The Rust Belt on some map depictions, putting it in the same league as Pittsburgh or Detroit.