A major bridge at the US port of Baltimore, named after Francis Scott Key, collapsed on Tuesday morning after it was struck by a container ship, plunging cars and around 20 people into the river. The rescuers started a search operation to look for survivors in the Patapsco River after the major portion of the 1.6-mile (2.57 km) long bridge crumpled into the water, Reuters reported.
Kevin Cartwright, the spokesperson for the Baltimore City Fire Department, told the news agency that around 20 people could be in the river along with vehicles.
"This is a mass-casualty, multi-agency event. This operation is going to extend for many days," Cartwright noted.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge was opened in 1977. It is named after Key, the author of the American national anthem 'The Star-Spangled Banner'.
In multiple videos of the incident going viral on social media, the ship can be seen crashing into the bridge in darkness. Soon after the bridge crashed, the ship caught fire before sinking.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore has declared a state of emergency and said that the state was working with an "interagency team" to quickly deploy federal resources from the Joe Biden-led administration.
A helicopter flies over the scene of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. (Reuters Photo)
Meanwhile, the FBI informed that its personnel were "on scene".
Baltimore is among the busiest ports in the US for car shipments. In 2022 itself, it handled over 7,50,000 vehicles, according to data from the Maryland Port Administration.
According to LSEG ship tracking data, the Singapore-flagged container ship -- the Dali -- is owned by Singapore's Grace Ocean Pte and managed by Synergy Marine Group.
The ship was chartered by shipping company Maersk and carried its customers' cargo. Synergy said the crew, who are all Indian nationals, and the two pilots on board had all been accounted for and there were no reports of any injuries, reported BBC.
The Dali was expected to depart Baltimore on Tuesday morning and arrive at Colombo on April 22, reports said.
The local police said so far they have not found any evidence regarding whether it was done intentionally or not.
“There is absolutely no indication that there's any terrorism, that this was done on purpose,” Baltimore Police Chief Richard Worley said.
(Edited by : Vivek Dubey)
First Published: Mar 26, 2024 5:40 PM IST
