Dramatic scenes in the US metropolis: A ship drives into a four-lane car bridge – then it collapses completely, dragging cars and people into the water with it. The rescue operation is ongoing.
In the US city of Baltimore, a ship rammed a four-lane car bridge, causing it to largely collapse. The Maryland State Transportation Authority announced this in the morning (local time).
According to the fire department, at least two people were rescued from the water. One person was taken to a hospital in serious condition, Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said during a news conference broadcast online.
The search is still ongoing for at least seven more people. The number of missing people is preliminary and could rise, it said. It is a “very big incident”. Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld called the incident a “catastrophic collapse” at a news conference. It is still unclear why the ship rammed the bridge. There were workers on the bridge at night making concrete repairs. But it is also not known how many people were there when virtually the entire part of the bridge, which was just over 2.5 kilometers long, collapsed.
Divers in action
CNN had previously reported, citing the fire department, that more than 20 people could have fallen into the cold water. Rescue work was underway, it was said, and divers were also on site. There were initially no reports of any deaths. According to the fire department, a sonar device used by the rescue workers detected vehicles in the water, but how many were still unknown.
As US media reported, citing the coast guard and fire department, the first emergency calls were received around 1:30 a.m. Surveillance camera videos shared on social media showed the ship ramming one of the support pillars, causing large parts of the bridge to collapse into the water. Several vehicles that were on the bridge at the time of the collapse also fell into the river.
FBI is investigating
There is currently “absolutely no evidence” that the ship intentionally rammed the bridge, said Baltimore Police Chief Richard Worley. There was also nothing to indicate a terrorist background. The FBI has also started an investigation.
As the sun rose, the extent of the collapse became truly clear. The arched struts of the bridge, which spanned the port of the East Coast metropolis as part of the inter-regional traffic artery Interstate 695, protruded like a skeleton from the water. A CBS reporter on site reported, visibly shocked, that the bridge had “basically completely disappeared.”
Water temperature of around 9 degrees
Temperatures were a concern during search and rescue efforts. The water at the scene of the accident had a temperature of around 9 degrees Celsius, CNN reported. The human body can withstand such temperatures for between one and three hours and then they could be fatal. The station had previously reported, citing Baltimore Fire Department spokesman Kevin Cartwright, that the outside temperature in the harbor felt like minus 1 degree Celsius. The water, which is also very cold, poses a risk not only for those involved in the accident, but also for the rescue divers. Another problem is the current at the accident site, said Wallace. “At the moment we are assuming that the tide is coming back.”
The ship’s crew is in good health, the New York Times reported, citing a statement from the owners. There are no injuries on the ship. The ship named “Dali” rammed one of the bridge pillars at around 1:30 a.m. The cause of the collision still needs to be determined.
US President Joe Biden was informed of the bridge collapse. The White House announced in the morning (local time) that he would continue to be kept up to date. Biden wants to travel to the state of North Carolina later, where, among other things, campaign events are planned. It is unclear whether Biden will stick to the plans in view of the bridge collapse in the US state of Maryland.
The “Dali” was supposed to sail from Baltimore to Sri Lanka under the Singapore flag, the New York Times and CBS News reported, citing the Coast Guard. The ship is almost 290 meters long. The Marinetraffic portal said that the “Dali” left the port of Baltimore at 1 a.m. (local time).
The ship, which is operated by the charter company Synergy Group, was chartered by Maersk on a temporary basis, said a statement from the Danish shipping company Maersk. Cargo from Maersk customers is said to have been transported on it. According to the information, there were no Maersk crew or personnel on the ship. Maersk is the world’s second largest container shipping company behind MSC.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge crosses the Patapsco River in the metropolis in the northeast of the USA. The bridge is named after Francis Scott Key, the author of the US national anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner”, and was opened in 1977.
An accident of this kind is rare, but not an isolated case worldwide: as recently as February 2024, five people died in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong after a freighter rammed a car bridge and caused it to partially collapse. In Brazil, a nearly 900-meter-long road bridge over the Moju River collapsed in April 2019 after a ferry rammed one of the massive pillars. In January 2012, a ship loaded with rocket parts for the US Air Force and the NASA space agency tore a gap more than 90 meters long in a road bridge in the US state of Kentucky. The captain had taken the wrong route under the bridge, which was only designated for water sports enthusiasts and not for heavy ships.
According to an expert in Germany, several safety measures when building bridges over waterways make a serious collapse like the one in Baltimore very unlikely. “The requirements for static safety for a bridge are much higher than for a residential building,” said Prof. Josef Hegger from the Chair and Institute for Concrete Construction at RWTH Aachen to the German Press Agency. As a university lecturer, structural engineer and test engineer, he is an expert in bridge construction. Although such an accident can never be ruled out, the highest level of safety can be achieved by combining various design measures.