Baltimore
Motorway bridge collapses after ship collision – no evidence of a terrorist attack
Watch the video: Baltimore – highway bridge collapses after ship collision.
Video source: n-tv
In the US city of Baltimore, a bridge several hundred meters long collapsed after a cargo ship rammed the structure. A search is underway for missing people, two people have already been rescued from the water.
This article will be continually updated.
A container ship rammed a multi-lane highway bridge in the port city of Baltimore in the US state of Maryland, causing it to collapse. This was reported by several US media outlets (including the New York Times) on Tuesday morning (CET). According to CNN, rescue workers are currently looking for at least 20 people who may have fallen into the water. The governor of Maryland declared a state of emergency in the US state after the collapse.
Little is known about the background so far. However, there is no evidence of a terrorist attack. “The preliminary investigation indicates an accident. We have found no solid evidence of a terrorist attack,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said at a news conference Tuesday.
According to the fire department, two people were rescued from the water at midday. One person was taken to a hospital in serious condition, Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said at a news conference. According to the owners, the ship’s crew is doing well.
Watch the video: USA correspondent about devastating ship collision in Baltimore – “Thank God it was in the middle of the night”.
Cars fell off the bridge
Several vehicles fell into the water after the accident at the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday night, according to a video posted on Platform X. According to the video, the ship was on fire and thick black smoke was rising from it.
Emergency calls were received around 1:30 a.m. (local time), Baltimore Fire Department communications director Kevin Cartwright told the AP news agency. It was reported that a ship traveling from Baltimore struck a bridge pier, causing the bridge to collapse.
© Picture Alliance / DPA
Several vehicles were said to have been on the bridge at the time, including one the size of a semi-trailer truck. “Our focus right now is trying to rescue and recover these people,” Cartwright said. It looks like an incident with numerous victims.
According to official information, the crew of the container ship sent out an emergency signal shortly before the collision. It is said to have been a problem with the electricity. According to Moore, thanks to the emergency signal, officers were able to stop traffic to prevent more cars from getting onto the bridge.
Container ship hits bridge in Baltimore
It sails under the Singapore flag and is around 300 meters long Container ship “Dali” is said to have caused the accident while passing the bridge. According to the ship tracking service “Vesselfinder”, it was heading towards Colombo in Sri Lanka. Brandon M. Scott, mayor of the city of 580,000, said on “Rescue workers are on site and operations are underway.”
US President Joe Biden was also informed about the collapse of a four-lane car bridge in Baltimore and the rescue operation on site. He will 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 was unclear whether Biden would stick to the plans in view of the bridge collapse in the US state of Maryland.
The Maryland governor’s office says it is in close contact with US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of Baltimore, the board of directors of the district of the same name and the emergency services, according to a statement by Governor Wes Moore published on Platform X on Tuesday .
The Francis Scott Key Bridge spanned the Patapsco River in the southeast of the city and was part of Interstate Highway 695. It was opened in 1977 and had a total length of around 2,800 meters.
According to experts, a serious collapse like the one in Baltimore is very unlikely in Germany. Several safety measures when building bridges over waterways would ensure this. “For a bridge, the requirements for static safety are much higher than for a residential building,” said Prof. Josef Hegger from the Chair and Institute for Concrete Construction at RWTH Aachen University when asked by the DPA. Although such an accident can never be ruled out, the highest level of safety can be achieved by combining various design measures.
Sources: “New York Times”, “Vesselfinder”,BNO, Brandon M. Scottnews agencies AFP, Associated Press, Reuters and DPA