March 26, 2024 - Baltimore Key Bridge collapses after ship collision

Our live coverage of the Baltimore bridge collapse has moved here.

A crew member on the DALI cargo ship sent a message hours after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed Tuesday saying everybody on board was safe, according to Apostleship of the Sea director Andy Middleton.

Middleton, who spent time with the captain of the DALI Monday, told CNN’s Laura Coates he reached out to a crew member after hearing about the incident Tuesday morning. 

He said there were 22 members aboard the ship from India who were setting sail earlier Tuesday morning and were heading toward Sri Lanka.

“I was able to reach out to a crew member very early this morning around 5:30 (a.m. ET) or 6 (a.m. ET) and get a message to them asking if they were OK,” he said. “That crew member responded within just a few minutes advising that the crew was safe, and everybody that [was] on board was safe.”

Middleton was told by the ship’s captain Monday that the vessel was going to take a longer route to avoid risks along the Yemen coast.

“When I was out with the captain yesterday, we were talking while we were driving, and he advised that they were sailing down and around the tip of South Africa in order to avoid the incidents that are going on off the Yemen coast, and it was a safer way to go,” he said.

Middleton said the Apostleship of the Sea is a ministry to seafarers with members that spend time in the port and on the vessels as a friendly face to the seafarers that visit the Port of Baltimore, “taking care of their needs to make sure that they’re reminded of their God-given human dignity when they’re here in Baltimore.”

Six people, who were believed to be part of a road construction crew, are presumed dead after Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early Tuesday morning. The collapse came after a 984-foot cargo ship hit the bridge’s pillar.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore told reporters Tuesday evening it’s a “really heartbreaking conclusion to a challenging day.”

Late Tuesday, it was discovered that two of the construction workers who went missing after the bridge collapsed were from Guatemala, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said late Tuesday.

Here’s what you should know to get up to speed:

Two of the construction workers missing from the bridge collapse in Baltimore were from Guatemala, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement late Tuesday.

Those missing included a 26-year-old originally from San Luis, Petén. The other is a 35-year-old from Camotán, Chiquimula, the statement said.

The ministry said both were part of a work team “repairing the asphalt on the bridge at the time of the accident.”

The statement did not name the two people missing, but it said the country’s consul general in Maryland “went to the area where the families of those affected are located,” where he hopes to be able to meet with the brothers of both missing people.

The consulate also issued a statement Tuesday saying its consul general in Maryland “remains in contact with local authorities,” and also confirmed that two of those missing “were of Guatemalan origin.”

Six people, who were believed to be part of a road construction crew, are presumed dead after Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early Tuesday morning when a cargo ship hit the bridge’s pillar.

State and federal officials have not released information about the identities of any of the six missing workers.

Search operations near the Key Bridge collapse have shut down for the night due to dangerous conditions, but the process of underwater mapping with many local, state and federal dive teams will begin Wednesday, Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace told CNN’s Anderson Cooper Tuesday night.

Wallace said the portion of the Patapsco River is “tidal influenced, so it goes through tide cycles just like the open waters of the Chesapeake Bay does.”

The water depths in the area under the bridge vary from 40 feet to more than 60 feet, Wallace said. The deeper the divers go, the colder the temperatures they encounter, and the visibility is zero, he added.

 Wallace said when crews arrived Tuesday morning, the surface water temperatures of the Patapsco River were about 47 degrees with an air temperature of 44-45 degrees.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early Tuesday after a massive container ship lost power and crashed into the iconic Baltimore bridge, sending people and vehicles into the frigid Patapsco River.

Six people, believed to be part of a road construction crew, are presumed dead and the Coast Guard has ended its active search and rescue mission.

Here’s what you should know about the historic bridge:

For longtime Baltimore resident, Ceely, who opted not to share her last name, seeing footage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse Tuesday was deeply personal.

“I was very heavy-hearted,” Ceely told CNN. “Very tearful, thinking about the families whose loved ones may be in the water and just remembering when the bridge was constructed, and it was just like a piece of family dissolved.”

Ceely was at a prayer group Tuesday morning when she saw the news. She recalled being afraid when she first crossed the bridge while in Ford Maverick in 1975, but grew to like it because it saved time on the road.

“It was a main artery just like a blood line. It was a main artery to the other side of town. It was awesome. It beat going through the city all the time,” she said.

Elder Rashad A. Singletary, a senior pastor who led Tuesday night’s vigil at Mt. Olive Baptist Church told CNN that many church members watched the bridge’s construction.

“It’s a part of the community. A lot of our individuals in our congregation drive that bridge to go to work, and so now it’s really a life changing moment,” he said.

More than 18 hours after the collapse of the Baltimore bridge, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said it was a heartbreaking conclusion after the Coast Guard ended the search-and-rescue operation for the six people who were on the bridge when it collapsed.

It’s a “really heartbreaking conclusion to a challenging day,” he said.

“We put every single asset possible — air, land and sea” to find the missing people, he told reporters on Tuesday evening.
“While even though we’re moving on now to a recovery mission, we’re still fully committed to making sure that we’re going to use every single asset to now bring a sense of closure to the families,” the governor added.

As the sun sets in Baltimore, six people are presumed dead after a major bridge collapsed overnight Tuesday, according to the Coast Guard. The Francis Scott Key Bridge came down around 1:30 a.m. ET after a cargo ship collided with it.

The Coast Guard said it has ended its active search-and-rescue operation for the missing construction workers who were on the bridge when it collapsed.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) team will likely board the MV Dali for the first time on Wednesday, Chair Jennifer Homendy told CNN.

Right now, investigators are identifying their first investigative targets, including who they will interview and which entities will be party to the investigation, Homendy said.

Investigators are also preparing to look at the structure of the bridge and any debris that fell to the Patapsco River and onto the ship itself, she added.

Of the 24 NTSB investigators on the scene, Homendy said a specialized team would determine who was controlling the vessel and who was on the ship’s bridge at the time of the crash.

The pilot of the ship that crashed into the Baltimore bridge Tuesday did “everything that he could have done” to slow the ship and keep it from drifting toward the bridge, said Clay Diamond, executive director and general counsel of the American Pilots Association.

Diamond has been in close communication with the Association of Maryland Pilots over what unfolded on the Dali cargo ship in the moments leading up to the crash. 

 “Just minutes before the bridge, there was a total blackout on the ship, meaning that the ship lost engine power and electrical power, it was a complete blackout,” Diamond told CNN. 

At that point, according to Diamond, the pilot did “everything that he could have done” to both slow the ship down and keep it from drifting to the right, toward the bridge.

The pilot quickly gave a string of orders, calling for a hard rudder to port — as far left as possible — and for the anchor to be dropped.

Additionally, Diamond said, the pilot was the one who contacted the pilot dispatch office to shut down traffic to the bridge. 

“Those were all the appropriate steps but it happened so quickly and with so little lead time … neither one of those maneuvers were enough,” Diamond said. 

Diamond pointed out that while the lights on the boat could be seen turning back on — likely due to an emergency generator activating after the initial blackout — the ship’s engines never got running again. 

Maritime pilots, who are required to be licensed, temporarily board a ship and help guide the vessel as it maneuvers through local waters. Pilot training programs are extensive and rigorous, according to Diamond, requiring years of experience navigating ships on the water, classroom simulations, and working under the supervision of licensed pilots. 

Recovery efforts will be focused to find the missing people to provide closure to their families, said Col. Roland L. Butler Jr., secretary of Maryland State Police.

“At this point, we do not know where they are. But we intend to give it our best effort to help these families find closure,” he said at a news briefing on Tuesday evening.

Conditions have changed and made it dangerous for first responders and divers to be in the water around the collapsed Baltimore bridge, Col. Roland L. Butler Jr., secretary of Maryland State Police, said at a news briefing on Tuesday.

This comes as authorities announced they’re moving from a search-and-rescue operation to a recovery phase for the missing people.

“The changing conditions out there have made it dangerous for the first responders, the divers in the water,” he explained. “We will still have surface ships out overnight.”

Elaborating on the changing conditions, he said: “The last thing we want to do is put divers in the water with changing currents, low temperatures, very poor visibility, and so much metal and other an unknown objects in the water. All it takes is one object to strike an individual and all of a sudden we have a first responder trying to recover another first responder.”

He said divers are expected to be back in the water at 6 a.m. ET on Wednesday when “we’ll find ourselves in a better position to understand the dynamics of what we’re dealing with, and to address the issues in a much safer manner.”

The post was updated with more details on Butler’s remarks.

The Coast Guard is only aware of six missing individuals following the bridge collapse in Baltimore harbor, Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath said at a Tuesday news conference.

A Maryland law enforcement official said while there is a “distinct possibility” that there could have been more vehicles on the bridge when it collapsed, they have not found any evidence to support that.

“As unfortunate as it may be, it’s a distinct possibility. However, we don’t have any information to support that at this point,” Maryland State Police Secretary Col. Roland L. Butler Jr. said.

Authorities have been able to find three passenger vehicles, a cement truck and a fifth vehicle submerged in the water using infrared and side-scan sonar technology, Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace previously told CNN.

Radio traffic captured how authorities stopped traffic and worked to clear the bridge seconds before the impact.

Dive teams from various state and local agencies were brought in to assist in the search-and-recover operation after the collapse of the Baltimore bridge, Maryland State Police Secretary Col. Roland L. Butler Jr. said at a news conference.

Sonar was also used as part of the search and rescue operation, he added.

“From the outset, we’ve moved all those resources in,” Butler explained. “We’re doing our best in some very difficult times and difficult conditions.” 

The headline has been updated on this post.

The Coast Guard is ending its active search and rescue operation for the six unaccounted people who were on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed.

Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath said that based on the length of time since the bridge collapsed and the water temperatures “we do not believe that we are going to find any of these individuals still alive.”

The bridge collapsed at around 1:30 a.m. ET after a container ship hit the pillar. The active search-and-rescue efforts were suspended around 7:30 p.m. ET, Gilreath said.

Gilreath emphasized the Coast Guard is not leaving, but said it is “just going to transition to a different phase.”

US Sen. Chris Van Hollen described Tuesday as a “tragic day” in Baltimore during an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Tuesday evening. 

Van Hollen praised workers who stopped traffic after receiving the ship’s mayday signal.

“The effort goes on to search for those who are missing,” Van Hollen said , but added “the immediate issue besides the search and rescue is opening up that channel.”

“I understand there are about four ships in the port that can’t get out, I understand there were about 20 ships that were waiting to come in,” Van Hollen said. 

Van Hollen said there are thousands of workers employed at the Port of Baltimore, and “tens of thousands more depend on what is one of the most vibrant ports in the country, the biggest port for automobiles.”

According to Van Hollen, Maryland plans to access the Emergency Relief Fund within the Federal Highway Administration, though that won’t be enough to rebuild the bridge — “That will be long and expensive,” Van Hollen said.  

Van Hollen said he is in communication with his Senate colleagues and plans to work with the House on relief efforts.

At least six people are presumed dead following the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse Tuesday in Baltimore, according to reporting from The Baltimore Sun.

Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Brawner Builders called the news “a terrible, terrible, unforeseen tragedy.”

Two people were pulled from the Patapsco River, the Baltimore fire chief previously said Tuesday.

Earlier, family members of workers who were on the bridge at the time of the collapse spoke with CNN at Brawner Builders construction agency, where they were picking up vehicles belonging to their relatives.

CNN has reached out to Brawner Builders for comment.  

Carnival Cruise Line will temporarily move operations to Norfolk, Virginia, while rescue and cleanup efforts continue at the Key Bridge collapse site, the company said in a news release.

The Carnival Legend is supposed to return from its current sailing on March 31 and will now return to Norfolk. Guests will be bused back to Baltimore, the release said. 

The next sailing will operate from and return to Norfolk, the company added.

“Our thoughts remain with the impacted families and first responders in Baltimore,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “We appreciate the pledge made by President Biden today to dedicate all available resources to reopen Baltimore Harbor to marine traffic as soon as possible. As those plans are finalized, we will update our future cruise guests on when we will return home to Baltimore, but in the meantime, we appreciate the quick response and support from officials in Norfolk.” 

Faith leaders from across the city and residents joined Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and other city officials at a vigil Tuesday to pray for the victims and families of those missing after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Mt. Olive Baptist Church was filled with hymns sung by attendees following Senior Pastor Elder Rashad A. Singletary’s request for prayers for civic leaders, first responders and those affected by the collapse.

“We come as a community to pray — not only to pray but to provide support,” Singletary said. 

Scott told attendees a lot of prayer is needed at this moment. 

“This is a tragedy that is unthinkable, but one thing I know about those of us in Baltimore, whether you’re in Baltimore City and Baltimore County, whenever there is a tragedy, we come together,” he said. 

Scott said holding families in prayer is important at this time because “we can only imagine what is going through their minds and through their hearts and through their bodies.”

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski, who also spoke at the vigil, told attendees he is thankful that state leaders and President Joe Biden have reached out in support during this time.  

Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace said the team responding to the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse continues to grow as an active marine search operation is underway.

The mission started with 50 personnel including eight dive teams and continues to grow, Wallace told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Tuesday. 

Sonar has been used to mark vehicles that have been found in the water, Wallace said. 

One patient was transported to a local trauma center and is in serious condition, Wallace said, while another person who was on the bridge refused service and wasn’t injured.

Wallace said harbor containment boom has been placed around the vessel to try to contain the oil sheen. He said they smelled diesel fuel early this morning when it was still dark before they could actually see the sheen.

Authorities shared updates on the investigation along with the search-and-rescue operation underway after the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Here’s all the critical details:

Baltimore’s mayor on Tuesday said the focus in the city remains on the search for the six people still unaccounted for after the bridge collapse earlier in the day.

“This is an unthinkable and unspeakable tragedy,” Mayor Brandon Scott told CNN’s Phil Mattingly.

First responders are still “actively looking” for six people, the mayor said, noting that the bridge is iconic in Baltimore and that many residents don’t recall a time when it wasn’t visible in the harbor.

The Key Bridge, built in the 1970s, served as the outermost crossing of the Baltimore Harbor.

When asked about rebuilding, Scott said:

“This is a full team effort to find these individuals and help Baltimore and this community rebuild. But today, our focus is, and rightly so, on those families on those individuals that we’re actively searching for.”

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said he talked to the worker who made it off the collapsed bridge unharmed. The worker described seeing the ship come toward the bridge in the moments before the collision, the governor said Tuesday.

According to officials, there were eight construction workers on the bridge at the time of the incident. Six are still unaccounted for, and two were rescued. Of those, one was taken to the hospital and the other was OK, they said.

“The moments between when the crew called for a mayday and the moments that the bridge actually collapsed, we’re talking seconds,” Moore said on CNN.

The governor said the fact that the person survived and was able to converse was “pretty miraculous when you consider what happened and the speed and the intensity of which it happened last night.”

Moore said the person told him they did see the ship as it was coming toward the bridge, but that wasn’t an unusual sight for the workers: They saw ships coming and going every night, the governor said.

“But when you see the size, the enormity of that kind of vessel, coming at the speed that it was at and even the slightest adjustments that you saw here means the difference between a successful passage and catastrophe,” Moore said.

The bridge collapse that has indefinitely halted the flow of ships in and out of the Port of Baltimore could hurt the local economy, strain supply chains and scramble deliveries along the US East Coast.

The Key Bridge collapsed after a container vessel called Dali collided with one of its supports. Dali is operated by Singapore-based Synergy Group but had been chartered to carry cargo by Danish shipping giant Maersk.

Baltimore ranks as the ninth biggest US port for international cargo. It handled a record 52.3 million tons, valued at $80.8 billion, in 2023. According to the Maryland state government, the port supports 15,330 direct jobs and 139,180 jobs in related services.

Baltimore is also the leading US port for farming and construction machinery, as well as imports of sugar and gypsum, and the second in the country for exporting coal.

In the long run: Despite the potential for some increased cost of shipping and some traffic tie-ups and congestion, Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, said the disruptions aren’t likely to cause problems for the US economy as a whole since the goods are likely to find other ports.

Part of the issue in determining the potential added costs to shipping is the unknown of how long the port stays closed. And it’s too early to say when ships will begin calling on the port once again, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Monday.

Senior White House adviser Tom Perez told reporters Tuesday that “it’s too early” to tell how long it will take to rebuild the Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. 

“We want to get done as soon as possible,” said Perez, the director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. “There’s going to be a lot of work. And it’s not going to happen overnight.”

President Joe Biden has called in “every federal agency with any sort of expertise or equity” to work on the bridge, he added.

Separately, Perez also did not rule out the possibility of “litigation or other efforts” that would seek compensation for the costs of rebuilding the bridge.

The Baltimore bridge collapse will have a serious impact on supply chains, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Tuesday.

“There is no question that this will be a major and protracted impact to supply chains. It’s too soon to offer estimates on what it will take to clear the channel and reopen the port,” Buttigieg said during a news conference.

Some background: Baltimore is the ninth biggest US port for international cargo. According to the Maryland state government, the port supports 15,330 direct jobs and 139,180 jobs in related services.

Until the channel is reopened, ships will likely already be changing course for other East Coast ports.

The DALI, the ship that hit the bridge and caused the collapse, was the only container vessel in the port at the time of the collision – but seven container vessels had been scheduled to arrive Through Saturday, said Judah Levine, a researcher at logistics firm Freightos.

CNN’s Chris Isidore and Hanna Ziady contributed to this report.

This post was updated with more background on the post.

Members of the US Coast Guard have detected an oil sheen on the water near the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, but they have not yet determined the source of the fuel discharge, according to USCG Petty Officer Kimberly Reaves.

USCG Command Center officials haven’t yet determined whether the sheen is the result of a fuel spill from the ship that collided with the Key bridge, or if it’s from the vehicles on the bridge that fell into the water after the collision, Reaves told CNN. Officials also do not yet know how much fuel has spilled into the water, Reaves added. 

A spokesperson from the Environmental Protection Agency told CNN they haven’t received any information from USCG confirming a fuel leak happened. EPA does have an on-scene coordinator ready to assist, according to EPA Region 3 spokesperson Shaun Eagan. 

Maryland Department of the Environment officials are conducting water sampling both upriver and downriver of the site of the bridge collapse, according to department spokesperson Jay Apperson. 

“We are ready to do whatever we need to do to minimize any effects to the Patapsco River as we work in close coordination with our partner agencies,” Serena McIlwain, Maryland secretary of the environment, said in a statement provided to CNN. 

Apperson said the state is coordinating “closely” with the US Coast Guard and other agencies.

Vice President Kamala Harris said the federal government has directed its resources to help with the ongoing search and rescue operation in Baltimore after a bridge collapsed on Tuesday.

At the beginning of her remarks in North Carolina, she said she spoke with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.

The federal resources will be used to “assist with the search and rescue, to reopen the port, and to rebuild the bridge as quickly as possible. And of course, I know we all will stand and continue to stand with the people of Maryland,” Harris said.

Earlier Tuesday, in remarks from the White House, President Joe Biden told reporters he’d directed his team “to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible,” promising to travel to Baltimore “as quickly as I can” to survey the damage himself. 

There is an ongoing investigation looking into possible vehicles on the bridge at the time of the collapse, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said at Tuesday’s news conference.

He added that what he could confirm is that the quick work of authorities in closing the bridge had saved lives.

Six people remain missing following the Baltimore bridge collapse during a news conference on Tuesday, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said at a news conference Tuesday.

Moore said search and rescue efforts continue and that there is no new information.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the road to recovery and rebuilding in the wake of the bridge collapse will “not be quick” and it will certainly be costly. “But we will rebuild,” he noted.

Buttigieg reaffirmed President Biden’s earlier commitment that the federal government will provide all the support and resources needed to rebuild.

“This is no ordinary bridge,” Buttigieg said. “It has been part of the skyline of this region for longer than many of us have been alive, so the path to normalcy will not be easy.”

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called the Baltimore bridge collapse “a unique circumstance.”

“I do not know of a bridge that has been constructed to withstand a direct impact from a vessel of this size,” he said Tuesday at a news conference

He said the country will take the situation and learn from it.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg acknowledged the families affected by the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge.

“We should also recognize that this is an excruciating day for several families who went to bed last night having it be a normal night and woke up today to news that no one wants to receive,” he said at a press briefing Tuesday afternoon.

“They are hoping and praying and we are hoping and praying with them. We are all putting our arms around the community of Baltimore and that is true for all of this country,” he added.

Air, land and sea resources are all being deployed to assist in the search and rescue efforts after a Baltimore bridge collapsed early Tuesday, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said.

He said he wants to make sure the operation is carried out “to its fullest intent.”

“This will not be short, there’s going to be a long road,” Moore said. “There’s going to be a long road, not just as we go from search and rescue. There will be a long road as we talk about what does the future of this region, the future of the area looked like.“

Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin said that reopening the Patapsco River channel is critical to the state’s economy.

“It affects many, many jobs. It affects not only jobs here in Maryland, but around the country and world. So our next priority is make sure we get that channel opened and then we also need to fix and replace the bridge for the surface transportation,” Cardin said during a news conference Tuesday.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Tuesday afternoon thanked the members of the philanthropic community and the private sector who have been reaching out and offering support, especially those who have stepped in to provide meals for first responders.

“Everybody has raised their hands to serve, and I can tell you, it is so deeply appreciated,” Moore said. “It’s so deeply felt, and for everyone who was offering prayers and support, I can tell you those prayers are working and we are grateful.”

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said he spoke to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris after the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, saying they voiced their “full-throated” support.

“Also had the chance to speak with both the president and the vice president, who have been full-throated in their support of everything that we’re doing here in Maryland, and we just want to say how grateful we are to them,” Moore said Tuesday at a news conference.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said the Baltimore bridge collapse situation is “still an active search and rescue mission.”

“There is not a single resource that we will hold off on deploying,” he said at a Tuesday news conference.

He went on to say the mission “will not be short” and that “there’s going to be a long road.”

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg call him at 3:30 a.m. ET about the Baltimore bridge collapse.

During a news conference on Tuesday, Moore said Buttigieg and his team are now in Baltimore looking at the damage and also identifying areas where they can help.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore thanked first responders who arrived on the scene of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in the overnight hours and have “not stopped” since.

He said their efforts have been “truly remarkable.”

“These are individuals who in the middle of the night, jumped into some very challenging environments, some very challenging territories and have not stopped in their quest of making sure that each and every person is seen and supported and lifted up,” Moore said.

The governor also said that he had the opportunity to spend time with the families of the people who were on the bridge.

Officials said earlier Tuesday that at least six people are still unaccounted for and search and rescue operations are a priority.

Baltimore City Council Member Phylicia Porter said she has “a lot of questions” following the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse early Tuesday, and she’s eager for authorities to complete their investigation.

Porter also told Sanchez on Tuesday afternoon that a body had been recovered from the river, but later said she misspoke.

The US Coast Guard continues to search for six individuals after the collapse.

Correction: A previous version of this story said a body was recovered from the river, citing Porter. Porter later said she misspoke.

The Baltimore Orioles canceled the team’s planned workout and fans’ rally scheduled for Tuesday following the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore.

“In light of today’s tragedy, tonight’s open workout and rally for fans is cancelled,” the team posted on X. “Our thoughts are with Baltimore.”

Earlier in the day, the Orioles released a statement extending their “thoughts and prayers” to those affected by the incident.

“We are devastated by the news of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, and send our thoughts and prayers to those impacted by this tragedy,” the statement read. “We thank the brave first responders and the men and women actively working on rescue efforts. Baltimore, we’re a tight-knit and resilient city. Together we will get through this.”

The Orioles are scheduled to open the 2024 MLB season at Baltimore’s Camden Yards against the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday.

US Army Corps of Engineers Commanding General Scott A. Spellmon has been in touch with the Port of Baltimore about the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Deputy Defense Secretary Sabrina Singh said Tuesday. 

“Obviously, it is very early in the process, but I can tell you that the commanding general of the US Army Corps of Engineers has been in touch with the Port of Baltimore, and the department is remaining in close contact with local and state officials, and stands ready if any assistance is required,” Singh said. 

The NTSB has been hearing lots of numbers about how many cars and people were on the bridge during the collapse, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said Tuesday.

Search teams are working to verify those numbers, she said, but it’s not for the NTSB to nail them down.

Instead, she said, local authorities like Maryland State Police and the Maryland Transportation Authority along with federal partners will work to verify if there are other victims.

“Nobody is going by a number,” Homendy said. “They’re looking and they’re searching. That’s what’s important.”

It’s “too early to tell” in this stage of the investigation if reports of power outage on the ship are true, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said.

“We have been made aware of those same reports about there being a power outage. I’ve also seen statements, media releases from Singapore as well. It’s something that we take in, but something that we have to verify through our investigation that that was what was part of the contributing cause here,” she told reporters on Tuesday afternoon. “So too early to tell.”

Earlier Tuesday, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said the crew of the ship notified officials that it had lost power prior to the crash. Lights on the ship flickered and a dark plume of smoke could be seen billowing from it before it veered toward a bridge pillar shortly before impact, CNN analysis of data from MarineTraffic shows.

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said it will “take time to dig through” whether the Francis Scott Key Bridge has ever been flagged for any safety deficiencies.

Homendy at a news conference pointed to the agency’s recent investigation of the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse in Pittsburgh in 2022, which “took almost two years to get information” on bridge inspections and whether or not records existed, she said.

“It’s a very cumbersome process,” Homendy added. “It’s a very meticulous process where they have to dig through a lot of information, so it will not be something that we will be able to verify well on.”

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore during an earlier news conference said that the now-collapsed Baltimore bridge was “fully up to code” and had no structural issues.

A National Transportation Safety Board official said that the structure of the collapsed Baltimore bridge will be looked into as part of the agency’s investigation.

“There’s some questions about the structure of the bridge,” NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said.

Homendy said that NTSB is “aware of what a structure should have” and will look into how the Francis Scott Key Bridge was built and investigate the structure itself.

“All of that will be a part of our investigation. We go very broad in our investigation,” she said.

More than 12 hours after a cargo ship hit a Baltimore bridge, causing it to collapse, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board said focus is still on finding people.

Chairperson Jennifer Homendy said she could not share many details about what happened yet and the priority is search and rescue operations.

The NTSB is leading the investigation into the incident at the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

At least six people are still unaccounted for, officials said previously.

The Singapore-registered DALI container ship that struck the Baltimore bridge dropped its anchor prior to impact as part of its emergency procedure, according to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said the agency will look into if and when the ship dropped the anchor, but there is no information as of now.

The National Safety Board’s investigation will look “in-depth” at safety information, anything that may have occurred before Tuesday’s incident, any safety history for the vessel and any sort of maintenance that was done, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said.

Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board decided not to board the ship today while the search-and-rescue operations are underway for the missing people, Chair Jennifer Homendy said.

“We chose not to board the vessel today to allow some time for the search and recovery, which we did not want to interfere with,” she said Tuesday at a press briefing.

Meanwhile, the engineering team assisting in the investigation is trying to get the recorder available on the ship, she said. She declined to provide more information on the recorders.

“We have an engineering team, we have survival factors and then we have a team here that is getting the recorders,” she said.

“We do have some information, but we need to verify that information first before I provide that information,” she added.

A voyage data recorder will be critical to the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation, agency chair Jennifer Homendy said on Tuesday.

She stated that a recorder team is onsite as part of the investigation efforts.

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said there is a lot of information that officials need to collect following the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Sott Key Bridge.

A team of 24 experts will dig into nautical operations, vessel operations, safety history records, owners, operators, company policy and any sort of safety management systems or programs, Homendy said.

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said the agency is “standing back” to allow the US Coast Guard to continue their search and rescue operations, as NTSB gathers more information from the command post.

“There is a lot of information that we can begin to collect,” Homendy said.

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said the agency will not answer questions about injuries or the possible of fatalities following from the Baltimore bridge collapse.

Homendy directed reporters to other agencies for updates. Search and rescue efforts are ongoing.

Six people remain unaccounted for following the bridge collapse. Two people were rescued from the water earlier Tuesday.

National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation of the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said Tuesday afternoon.

“Under our memorandum of understanding with the Coast Guard, the NTSB is leading the investigation. The Coast Guard will support this investigation,” Homendy said.

The National Transportation Safety Board arrived at the site of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge at 6 a.m. ET on Tuesday, according to NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is giving an update on the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday after it was hit by a container ship.

Officials said at least six people are still unaccounted for and search and rescue operations are underway. There was a crew of construction workers on the bridge when it fell, according to authorities.

The NTSB already launched a “go team” to investigate the incident, it said earlier Tuesday. This team consists of technical experts and specialists across the agency on rotational duty assignment to respond as quickly as possible, it said.

The US Embassy in Singapore has been in contact with the country’s Maritime and Port Authority, in the wake of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Tuesday.

Miller said Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority “has offered to provide assistance to the US Coast Guard.” 

The tanker, which collided with the bridge causing the collapse, was Singapore-flagged and bound for Sri Lanka, but Miller said he was “not aware of any contacts with Sri Lanka.”

The ship was chartered by Danish shipping company Maersk and was carrying their customers’ cargo, the Danish shipping company told CNN. It also said the ship, DALI, is operated by charter vessel company Synergy Group. 

The president of the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 333 in Baltimore, Maryland, said the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge will have major consequences for the port’s workforce and the state’s economy for the foreseeable future.

“We are at a standstill, we make our living off of import and export cargo, unloading and loading, discharging and loading ships,” Scott Cowan, president of ILA Local 333, said. “This is going to put a very big strain on the economy in the state of Maryland because the port of Baltimore is one of the main engines, main drivers of the economy of Maryland, this is going to create a big problem.”

The ILA’s work relies on the flow of cargo ships through the port as its workers are responsible for securing loads on and off the deck, operating the cranes and running the boxes throughout the yard.

“Until those ships can come up and down the bay, the little bit of cargo that’s in the terminal will be imported and exported out and then we’ll be waiting for the channel to open — I don’t know how long it’s going to take,” Cowan added.

Cowan said that these massive cargo shops are very difficult to stop — especially when you face issues with power outage and propulsion.

“This is not like a car, they don’t have brakes,” Cowan said.

Ocean carriers are being moved away from the Port of Baltimore after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed on Tuesday. The Port of Virginia and the Port of Baltimore are coordinating diverting the ships to the Port of Virginia to eliminate the traffic in Baltimore’s port to “keep trade moving.”

The Virginia and Maryland Departments of Transportation are also working to ensure uniform signage along roads “all the way up from Virginia into Maryland,” Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said.

“We have our first ocean carrier that was supposed to be heading to Baltimore making a stop in Virginia and unloading all of their Baltimore cargo here. We’ve got capacity to do it, and I think that’s really important,” Youngkin said.

“We’ve got high-level interaction everywhere needed and we just wait to be called and as soon as we are, we’ll be moving,” he added.

The patient who was taken to the R Adams Cowley Shock Center following the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse has been discharged, according to a release from the University of Maryland Medical Center. 

Officials will hold a virtual briefing Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. with hospital officials to speak about how the hospital handled the incident.

Patient details will not be discussed.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed at 1:27 a.m. ET Tuesday after it was struck by a 984-foot cargo ship.

If you’re just reading in, here’s where things stand now:

Some of the East Coast’s busiest ports are offering their support after the DALI cargo ship collided with Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, a major artery road traffic, to collapse.  

South Carolina: “Our hearts are hurting for all those affected. We are sending support and strength to our sister port city during this difficult time,” South Carolina Department of Transportation Secretary Christy Hall, SC Ports President and CEO Barbara Melvin and Charleston Branch Pilots Association President Crayton Walters said in a joint statement.

South Carolina is home to the Port of Charleston, another major seaport off the Atlantic Ocean. The port said it hopes to learn from the incident that unfolded in Baltimore, adding they “have already had initial conversations regarding the incident, and we will jointly review harbor operations, procedures and state infrastructure.”

Georgia: In Georgia, home to ports in Savannah and Brunswick, the Georgia Ports Authority offered similar sentiments, noting “The Georgia Ports Authority offers our thoughts, prayers and support to our Port of Baltimore colleagues and everyone involved in this tragic accident.”

North Carolina: In a statement to CNN, the North Carolina Ports Authority said they are monitoring the situation and “are in close communication with our various partners, customers and port users as the situation continues to develop.”

“Our thoughts are with the Port of Baltimore, the community, those directly impacted, and the first responders still engaged in the important search and rescue work,” it said.

Radio traffic in the moments before a cargo ship collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore captures how authorities stopped traffic and worked to clear the bridge before the impact.

Officials warned of the ship approaching the bridge, according to a Broadcastify recording of the transmissions.

“I need one of you guys on the south side, one of you guys on the north side, hold all traffic on the Key Bridge. There’s a ship approaching that just lost their steering so until we get that under control, we’ve got to stop all traffic,” the person said.

In the audio, units reported that the bridge had collapsed about 90 seconds later. CNN has confirmed that the bridge collapsed at 1:27 a.m. ET.

“The whole bridge just fell down. Start, start whoever … everybody. The whole bridge just collapsed,” a person is heard on the radio.

“Do we know what traffic was stopped?” another person later said.

“I can’t get to the other side, sir. The bridge is down,” another person responded.

John Zimmerman was an ironworker who helped build the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in the 1970s. He was woken up by his wife early this morning to turn on the news after news broke of the accident.

From looking at the footage, he says it appears that the dolphins, the concrete bumpers around the pilings meant to protect the structure, didn’t work because of the exact place and way the ship hit. He speculates that the ship seems to have perhaps avoided the bumpers or only side-swiped them.

He said, unfortunately, the ship seemed to have hit at the most vulnerable part of the bridge.

“It looks like it hit the only spot it could have hit to take the whole thing down,” he said. “It hit at probably the weakest part of the bridge.”

Zimmerman, who is now 83 years old, worked on the bridge for two years in the 1970s as a local 16 ironworker.

Officials are conducting search and rescue efforts in Baltimore on Tuesday after a cargo ship hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse. At least eight people were on the bridge when it fell, and at least six of them are still unaccounted for, according to Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld.

But, weather conditions in and above the water of the Patapsco River could complicate search and rescue operations, CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam said.

A full moon spring tide is bringing two main impacts: coastal flood advisories around the Chesapeake Bay and dangerous rip currents, Van Dam said.

Another contributing factor is the way the water is moving. Water from the Patapsco River will flow out of Baltimore Harbor as low tide approaches Tuesday afternoon. Then, during high tides, there will be a reversal, with water coming back into the harbor. Van Dam said this could mean more difficult conditions for search and rescue boats.

Additionally, the cold water temperatures could be dangerous for people still in the water. Right now, the water in the Patapsco River is about 40-50 degrees. The human survivability at that temperature is one to three hours.

Family members of workers who were on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed are still searching for answers nearly 12 hours later, they told CNN outside a construction business Tuesday.

The family members, who declined to give their names, were at Brawner Builders construction agency picking up vehicles belonging to their relatives.

One woman said that her brother worked for the company and survived the bridge collapse. She said he was released from the hospital but was not doing well, declining to add more detail while his wife sat silently in tears while CNN spoke with his sister.

Another young woman said two of her immediate family members are still missing, she told CNN, adding one of her uncles, who worked at Brawner for a long time, loved his job there. It’s unclear if he was among the missing.

CNN reached out to Brawner Builders but they declined to comment.

Six people remain unaccounted for, Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said Tuesday morning.

President Joe Biden said Tuesday that it’s his intention that the “federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstruction in that bridge.”

It’s possible that some of the funding could come from the bipartisan infrastructure law – one of Biden’s key legislative accomplishments that passed in 2021. It authorized $550 billion in new federal investments. As with any massive spending package with hundreds of funding streams, it’s difficult to track exactly how much money remains. But the money is being disbursed over a five-year period, so there will be funds available through 2026. 

Most of the money passes through the US Department of Transportation and is awarded to states and projects on an annual basis through one of two ways:

After a 447-foot-long, four-lane bridge collapsed in Pittsburgh in 2022 — hours before Biden was scheduled to visit the city — money from the infrastructure law helped rebuild the bridge quickly without affecting funding for other critical projects in the region. The bridge reopened within one year.

President Joe Biden said he will visit Baltimore soon following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge Tuesday morning.

Responding to a question about whether he planned to visit Baltimore, Biden said, “I do, and as quickly as I can.”

The president did not provide specifics on when he plans to visit.

President Joe Biden said Tuesday he wants the federal government to bear the full cost of rebuilding the Francis Scott Key bridge after it collapsed in Baltimore Tuesday morning.

That could include funding from the Federal Highway Administration, as well as funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that provides competitive grants to improve the nation’s bridges. But it could require additional funding from Congress.

“It’s my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge,” Biden said from the White House. “I expect the Congress to support my effort — this is going to take some time.”

Responding to a reporter who asked whether the company who owns the container vessel Dali, which collided with the bridge and caused the collapse, should pay for the bridge’s reconstruction, Biden said, “We’re not going to wait for that to happen.”

He continued, “I’ve directed my team to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible,” adding that the federal government will work “hand in hand” with the state of Maryland. 

There is no indication that the collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore was the result of an intentional act, President Joe Biden said from the White House Tuesday morning.

The president promised a large response from the federal government, and said he has spoken with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, along with Maryland’s two senators.

Biden noted he has traveled over the Francis Scott Key bridge “many, many times” during his commutes between Washington, DC and Delaware.

President Joe Biden is addressing the Tuesday morning collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore from the White House.

The remarks come ahead of a trip to North Carolina Biden is taking with Vice President Kamala Harris.

The White House earlier Tuesday tweeted a picture of Biden being briefed on the collapse in the Oval Office with senior White House advisers.

The president will continue to receive updates about the collapse and search-and-rescue efforts throughout the day, the White House said.

As the response to the Baltimore bridge collapse shifts from a search-and-rescue mission to a recovery phase, there will be a sense of urgency to open up federal funding to remove debris and ultimately rebuild the bridge, given the economic significance of the Port of Baltimore, which is currently indefinitely closed, and the fact that the bridge is a key traffic artery for commuting Marylanders. 

“The added pressure of the port and the economic costs make it even more urgent for folks in Maryland and in the White House to quickly act,” said Andy Winkler, an expert in disaster and infrastructure issues at the Bipartisan Policy Center. 

With emergency operations underway, federal and state officials will be working around the clock to assess the damage and the cost to rebuild – and rebuild quickly, Winkler said. The National Transportation Safety Board has already launched a “go team” to investigate the collapse. 

Winkler said it will be key to watch whether and how soon the president declares a federal emergency, which can help cut red tape involved with certain regulations and contracting rules.

Benfil Mendez, 37, lives a block away from the southern entrance of the bridge near Fort Armistead Park. He works in construction and he said the bridge’s collapse will affect his everyday life.

“It affects us a lot,” he told CNN in an interview conducted in Spanish. “To get to work on the other side through other routes, we’re talking about a 45-minute difference.”

He said his family didn’t hear anything at night when the bridge collapsed, but he, his wife and their four children gathered near a gas station Tuesday to see what was going on. They learned about the incident on the news, he added.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz offered the people of Maryland resources, in the wake of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, calling the incident “heart-wrenching” on X.

“As we pray for the people of Maryland, we’re offering any resources they may need as they grapple with this tragedy,” he wrote.

The state faced a similar tragedy in 2007, when the Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi River near downtown Minneapolis collapsed, taking down more than 100 vehicles with it. Thirteen people died from the incident, with 145 people injured.

At the time, the bridge was loaded with rush hour traffic along with heavy construction equipment, which officials said contributed to the collapse. A multimillion-dollar settlement was reached a few years later between the victims of the collapse and the engineering firm responsible for the bridge’s inspection.

Rescue efforts are underway Tuesday after a container ship lost power and crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore overnight, causing it to collapse.

Here’s what the aftermath of the collision looks like:

The White House released a picture of President Joe Biden receiving a briefing on the Baltimore bridge collapse Tuesday morning, ahead of remarks he is expected to give on the incident later in the day.

The picture shows Biden in the Oval Office with senior advisers, including Tom Perez. The president is on the phone with a large diagram of the scene of the collapse behind him.

US Rep. Kweisi Mfume has described the Key Bridge collapse as an “unthinkable horror” and says he is praying for the missing people.

Mfume represents Maryland’s 7th congressional district, which encompasses parts of Baltimore City and Baltimore County.

In a statement, he said he had spoken with US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and the White House, which, he says, is using its resources to respond.

President Joe Biden is expected to address the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse later today, a person familiar with the plans tells CNN.

The president is expected to deliver remarks from the Roosevelt Room in the White House at 12:30 p.m.

Later Tuesday afternoon, he will travel to Raleigh, North Carolina, for a rare joint appearance with Vice President Kamala Harris focusing on health care, followed by a campaign fundraiser – underscoring the balance an incumbent president must strike in an election year.

The DALI container ship that struck Baltimore’s Key Bridge dropped its anchor prior to impact as part of its emergency procedures after losing propulsion, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said in a statement Tuesday.

DALI is a Singapore-registered vessel that was chartered by Danish shipping company Maersk.

“The ship management company, Synergy Marine Pte Ltd, reported to MPA that just prior to the incident, the vessel, Dali had experienced momentary loss of propulsion,” the statement from MPA said. “As a result, it was unable to maintain the desired heading and collided with the Francis Scott Key bridge.”

The vessel is currently holding onto its position at the site of the collision and is in a stable condition. All 22 crew members are safe and accounted for. CNN has reached out to the Synergy Group, the ship’s managing company, for comment.

Danish shipping giant Maersk said in a statement on Tuesday that it is dropping Baltimore on all its services for the foreseeable future following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

“Due to the damage to the bridge and resulting debris, it will not be possible to reach the Helen Delich Bentley port of Baltimore for the time being,” the company said in a statement. “In line with this, we are omitting Baltimore on all our services for the foreseeable future, until it is deemed safe for passage through this area.”

The container ship that collided with a pillar of the bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday morning, the DALI, was chartered by Maersk and carrying Maersk customers’ cargo, the company said earlier. It also said the DALI is owned by Grace Ocean and operated by Synergy Group.

No Maersk crew and personnel were onboard the vessel, the company noted.

Ships headed to Baltimore will divert to nearby ports, from which it will be possible for cargo to use other means of transportation to reach their final destinations, the company added.

For cargo set to be released in Baltimore, the company said to expect delays, as they look for other port alternatives.

Authorities are continuing to search for six people who are unaccounted for after a cargo ship veered off course into a pillar of Baltimore’s Key Bridge, causing the bridge to collapse.

Here’s a timeline of how the incident unfolded. All times are ET:

Authorities are still working to establish exactly how the crash occurred. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore told reporters the crew on the ship issued a “mayday” call before it collided with the bridge, but it is unclear exactly what time that call went out at.

Divers have also been scouring the water searching for victims of the crash since the early hours of the morning.

CNN’s Melissa Alonso, Paul Murphy and Allegra Goodwin contributed to this report.

The Singaporean-flagged cargo ship DALI that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, on Tuesday, was involved in an “incident” at the Port of Antwerp in Belgium in 2016, port authorities confirmed to CNN. 

Port authorities didn’t provide additional details about the incident. 

However, the Vessel Finder ship tracking website is reporting that the mega container ship c with the stone wall of the quay due to substantial stern momentum.

The allision (a maritime law term to describe when a moving vessel collides with a stationary object) occurred during unmooring maneuvers for leaving the port. 

According to Vessel Finder, the incident occurred in good weather. 

When asked for further details about the 2016 incident, the Port of Antwerp communications team said they can’t provide additional information, barring the fact that the investigation was carried out by the Nautical Commission.

When contacted, the Nautical Commission couldn’t share additional details at the time either.  

After the allision with the stone wall of the quay, the ship suffered “sufficient damages in the stern and transom,” according to Vessel Finder. 

The ship remained afloat, but some breaches near the waterline required repairs. The berth was also seriously damaged and closed for cargo handling operations due to safety reasons, according to Vessel Finder. No one was injured. 

There is no indication that Tuesday’s incident in Baltimore is related to this event in Belgium.

An emergency call from the container ship gave officials time to begin closing the Francis Scott Key Bridge to vehicle traffic before the ship slammed into it, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said on Tuesday.

“I’m thankful for the folks, once the warning came up and once notification came up that there was a mayday, who literally by being able to stop cars from coming over the bridge — these people are heroes. They saved lives last night,” Moore said.

The Port of Baltimore is closed to vessel traffic until further notice, and it’s too early to say when ships will begin calling on the port once again, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Monday.

“Right now our exclusive focus is on saving lives, our exclusive focus is on search and rescue,” he said at a news conference Monday.

The length of time that the channel is blocked by debris from the bridge will determine the extent of the economic impact of the accident on the local economy. While it could take years to rebuild the bridge — Moore described the process as “a long-term build” and one without a timeline as of yet. He added that removing the debris is likely to be a priority and could be accomplished much faster.

Some background: Overall, Baltimore ranks as the ninth biggest US port for international cargo. According to the Maryland state government, the port supports 15,330 direct jobs and 139,180 jobs in related services.

Until the channel is reopened, ships that had been destined for the Port of Baltimore are likely already changing course for other East Coast ports.

The DALI, the ship which hit the bridge and caused the collapse, was the only container vessel in the port at the time of the collision, but seven container vessels had been scheduled to arrive in Baltimore through Saturday, said Judah Levine, a researcher at logistics firm Freightos.

A number of major automakers, including General Motors, Toyota and the Volkswagen Group, the maker of VW, Audi and Bentley cars and SUVs, use the Port of Baltimore to ship vehicles in and out of the east coast of the United States.

With Baltimore closed, automakers will now work to find other ports to bring vehicles in the US and to ship out ones that are manufactured here. GM, for instance, exports vehicles to South America and America through Baltimore.

“Our thoughts are with those who were affected and the Baltimore community,” GM said in a statement shared with CNN. “We expect the situation to have minimal impact to our operations. We are working to re-route any vehicle shipments to other ports.”

John Lawler, Ford’s chief financial officer, said in a Bloomberg Television interview that Ford is rerouting auto parts to other East Coast ports. He said the situation will “lengthen the supply chain a bit.”

Truck traffic disruptions could cause issues even for automakers that aren’t directly affected by port issues. Volkswagen’s shipping facility in Baltimore, for instance, is on the eastern side of the bridge, and, so, continues to have access to the ocean.

“Last year, we received, processed and shipped approximately 100,000 vehicles through Baltimore for US dealers located in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic U.S,” VW said in a statement. “We do not anticipate any impact on vessel operations but there may be trucking delays as traffic will be rerouted in the area.”

BMW and Nissan both said the bridge collapse would not greatly impact their operations.

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is heading to Baltimore today, a staff member with the agency confirmed to CNN.

Buttigieg spoke to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, according to a post from the secretary on X.

“Rescue efforts remain underway and drivers in the Baltimore area should follow local responder guidance on detours and response,” Buttigieg wrote.

Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said in a news briefing Tuesday morning that authorities are searching for alternative transport options for the approximately 35,000 people using the bridge every day, noting that they will be directing people to use two major tunnels — the harbor tunnel and the Fort McHenry Tunnel — to avoid the site of collapse.

Authorities have been able to find three passenger vehicles, a cement truck and a fifth vehicle submerged in the water using infrared and side-scan sonar technology, Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace told CNN.

Up to eight dive teams were in the water performing search and rescue operations, he said, noting he’s unsure if the fifth car is a passenger or work vehicle.

“It’s the dynamic of an incident like this, operating in a space of uncertainty, it just makes things very difficult,” he said. “Add darkness to it, it becomes dangerous.”

Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) announced it will launch an investigation into the container ship DALI and the bridge collapse in Baltimore, Maryland, according to a statement from the MPA on Tuesday.

The DALI is a Singapore-registered vessel, according to the port authority. 

The MPA said it is in contact with the US Coast Guard and will “provide full cooperation to the US Coast Guard in its investigations,” the statement says.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed early Tuesday morning after it was struck by a 984-foot cargo ship.

Here’s what we know:

The insurers of the DALI container ship involved in a collision with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday are “working closely with the ship manager and relevant authorities to establish the facts,” a statement from Britannia P&I Club said Tuesday. 

With head offices in London and Luxembourg, the Britannia P&I Club provides Protection and Indemnity insurance and Freight Demurrage and Defence insurance to shipowners and charterers, according to the company website.

Britannia P&I Club added it is working to “help ensure that this situation is dealt with quickly and professionally.” 

“In the meantime, our thoughts are with everyone affected by this incident,” the statement added.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said crew on the ship were able to issue a “mayday” before colliding into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which allowed authorities to stop traffic from going on the bridge.

“We’re thankful that between the ‘mayday’ and collapse that-that we had officials who were able to-to begin the stop the flow of traffic so more cars were not up on the bridge,” Moore said.

Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said authorities are looking for alternative transport options for the approximately 35,000 people who use the bridge every day.

Wiedefeld said double that number use the harbor tunnel, and even more than that use the Fort McHenry Tunnel.

He said authorities will be directing people to using the two tunnels, and will have authorities there to deal with any incidents that may arise with increased congestion on the tunnel routes. 

Crew on the ship that collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore notified authorities they had lost power on the ship, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore confirmed during a news conference Tuesday.

Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said eight people were on the Key Bridge at the time of its collapse.

Speaking to reporters at a news conference, Wiedefeld said two of those people are accounted for — one is in hospital, one is okay, and the search is continuing for the other six.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was “fully up to code” and had no structural issues, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said during news conference Tuesday.

The bridge collapsed after a container ship collided into it early Tuesday.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said the preliminary investigation into the Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore “points to an accident.”

“The preliminary investigation points to an accident. We haven’t seen any credible evidence of a terrorist attack,” he told reporters at a news conference Tuesday.

Moore said he recognized “many of us are hurting right now” and said authorities are working to gather details on what happened.

Authorities are holding a news conference after a container ship collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday, causing the bridge to collapse and sending people into the frigid water.

Rescuers continue to search for people in the water.

The National Transportation Safety Board is launching a “go team” to investigate the Baltimore bridge collapse.

According to the NTSB, a “go team” consists of technical experts who can solve “complex transportation safety problems” and specialists across the agency on rotational duty assignment to respond to the scene of accident as quickly as possible.

Team members should be reachable 24 hours a day, according to the agency’s website.

In a statement Tuesday, the FBI’s Baltimore field office said there was “no specific and credible information to suggest any ties to terrorism at this time” regarding the bridge collapse.

Danish shipping company Maersk chartered the Singapore-flagged container ship, DALI, that collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday morning, Maersk told CNN.

The DALI can carry 10,000 20-foot shipping containers, and was operating on a route between Baltimore and Asia as part of an alliance between Maersk and MSC, according to Xeneta shipping market analyst Emily Stausbøll.

Maersk is one of the world’s largest container shipping companies, moving everything from apparel and car parts to electronics and heavy machinery on board more than 700 vessels around the globe.

The carrier serves more than 100,000 businesses and calls on over 500 ports in more than 130 countries, according to its website. It moves more than 12 million containers every year.

Maersk is among the container shipping companies that have suspended transits through the Red Sea and Suez Canal because of ongoing attacks on vessels, including its own, by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

It posted record annual profits in 2022, riding high on elevated shipping prices and strong demand for goods, particularly in the first half of the year.

But it laid off 10,000 workers last year as demand slumped and freight prices plunged, pushing revenues sharply lower.

There are “no indications” the collision of a container ship that resulted in a major bridge collapse in Baltimore was an intentional act, US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Tuesday.

“We are closely monitoring the tragic situation unfolding as a result of a containership colliding with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. Our thoughts are with the families of the missing and injured,” Mayorkas wrote on social media.

Mayorkas also noted that the US Coast Guard, which is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security, was on scene “along with our state and local partners and is actively involved in search and rescue operations this morning.”

The container ship, DALI, had been inspected 27 times since its building in 2015, and had two “deficiencies” since then, according to records from the Electronic Quality Shipping Information System (Equasis).

In June of 2023, in San Antonio, Chile, the Chilean authorities gave the DALI a “deficiency” for “propulsion and auxiliary machinery — gauges, thermometers, etc,” according to Equasis records. And, in November of 2016, in Antwerp, Belgium, the DALI was given another “deficiency” for “structural conditions” described as “hull damage impairing seaworthiness,” due to it being holed, Equasis records show.

DALI was involved in an incident in 2016 in the Port of Antwerp, port officials confirmed to CNN.

The last inspection the DALI had was on September 9, 2023, when it inspected by the United States Coast Guard in New York, New York, Equasis reports. No deficiencies were noted from that inspection, according to the database.

All crew members, including two pilots from the Singaporean-flagged cargo ship DALI, have been accounted for and there are no reports of any injuries, ship management company, Synergy Group said in a statement Tuesday.

The company said there has been “no pollution” as a result of the incident, but Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace told reporters earlier that officials haven’t confirmed whether there has been an active fuel spill from the vessel.

“We’ve had odors of diesel fuel,” Wallace said.

He added that the Maryland Department of the Environment and Coast Guard will take the lead on determining if there was an oil fuel spill and what that impact has been so far.

The Synergy Group says the exact cause of the incident is yet to be determined.

“The ‘DALI’ has now mobilised its Qualified Individual Incident response service,” the Synergy Group said. “The US Coast Guard and local officials have been notified, and the owners and managers are fully cooperating with Federal and State government agencies under an approved plan.”

Dive operations have begun as part of the ongoing search and rescue operations following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland on Tuesday morning, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski told CNN.

“With the sun coming up, we’re now finally able to go in and begin dive operations,” Olszewski said, speaking with CNN’s Sara Sidner on Tuesday morning. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that before.”

The county executive noted an investigation into what happened is ongoing, but that the focus remains on search and rescue and the search and recovery efforts. Olszewski said the county’s “most recent intelligence” is that there are “at least seven people who are impacted.”

“The conditions are difficult,” Olszewski said. “We’re talking about a deep channel port. It’s 40, 50 feet of water, strong currents. The weather is windy, the water is cold. And so we certainly worry about those who are in the water, not to mention the fall from the bridge.”

Olszewski reiterated that there had been individuals working on the bridge at the time of the collapse. “We’ve also identified, with side-scanning sonar, that there were cars on the decks,” he said.

“It feels like a nightmare for all of us in the Greater Baltimore region,” Olszewski added.

The container ship DALI, which had just left the Port of Baltimore and was en route to Colombo, Sri Lanka, was not being piloted by its own crew, but by local pilots who are used specifically to avoid accidents like the one that occurred early Tuesday morning.

“Pilots move ships in and out of the Port of Baltimore,” said Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld at a news conference Tuesday.

The pilots get on board just outside of local channels, and take the ships into ports. Outbound ships like this one take the ships from the ports out to open water.

This is true for ships navigating ports, channels and rivers throughout the nation. The idea is that local pilots are aware of hazards in each port, river and channel. It is too early to know the cause of Tuesday’s accident, Wiedefeld said.

The Association of Maryland Pilots is the nation’s oldest state codified organization of pilots, according to its website. While the association goes back to 1852, it says that a reference to bay pilots can be found in Maryland records dating back to 1640, and pilotage laws were established during the first session of Maryland’s legislature in 1787.

One person is being evaluated at the University of Maryland Medical Center following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River in Baltimore, according to hospital officials. 

“The R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center received one patient from this incident – they are still in the process of being triaged / evaluated,” according to Michael Schwartzberg, senior director of media relations for the University of Maryland medical system.

No further information on the patient’s condition was released.

Earlier, a Baltimore fire official said two people have been rescued from the river – one who was uninjured and another who was hospitalized in “very serious condition.”

The DALI cargo ship that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday was involved in an “incident” at the Port of Antwerp in Belgium in 2016, port authorities confirmed to CNN. 

The White House is “closely monitoring” the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, a White House official tells CNN.

“This morning, the President convened senior members of his team for a briefing on the ongoing response to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland. During the briefing, the President directed his team to ensure all federal resources be made available to assist in the ongoing search and rescue efforts and response to this incident,” the White House said in a statement.

The US Coast Guard, the official said, is conducting search and rescue efforts, with senior White House officials in touch with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott “to offer any federal assistance they need.”

“Our hearts go out to the families of those who remain missing as a result of this horrific incident,” the official said, adding that there is “no indication of any nefarious incident.”

President Joe Biden has been briefed on the bridge collapse, the White House said Tuesday. “He will continue to receive updates from his team throughout the day,” a White House official said. Biden is currently scheduled to leave the White House at 12:30 p.m. ET for an event in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed early Tuesday morning after it was struck by a 984-foot cargo ship.

Here’s what we know:

Rescue workers in Baltimore are continuing to search for as many as seven people after a major bridge in the city’s port was struck by a container ship early Tuesday, officials said. It is an “active search and rescue” situation, the city’s fire chief said, and the number of missing people could change.

Water temperatures in Baltimore Harbor near the site of the bridge collapse are currently reported between 46 and 48 degrees Fahrenheit, which is a dangerous temperature for people who are submerged in it and who “aren’t prepared for what the sudden exposure can do to your body and brain,” according to a cold water safety website from the National Weather Service.

Exhausted swimmers without floatation can survive within water temperatures of 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 to 60 minutes, while the likely survival time with floatation is two to three hours, according to the University of Minnesota. 

The search and rescue operations have now entered the sixth hour since this event occurred.

CNN Meteorologist Monica Garrett contributed to this reporting.

The Federal Aviation Administration is restricting aircraft from flying over the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

“Drone pilots: The FAA has flight restrictions in place around the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse,” the FAA posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. “Do not interfere with rescue operations. If you fly, emergency response operations cannot.”

The restriction established Tuesday morning covers Baltimore Harbor and is close to Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI), one of the busiest airports in the region.

No delays were noted at the airport Tuesday morning.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott told CNN, the early morning collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge is “an unspeakable tragedy,” he told CNN.

And while there is concern for the status of the bridge, traffic and the port, Scott wants to concentrate on victims that may still be in the water, he said.

“Right now, everyone in this world’s focus should be about these souls and those families who are wondering if these people are going to walk back in the door after they walked out to work last night,” Scott said.

The Baltimore mayor called the ongoing search and rescue mission conducted via sonar, an “all hands on deck effort.”

The Singaporean-flagged cargo ship that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore Tuesday altered course and veered toward a pillar shortly before impact, a CNN analysis of MarineTraffic ship-tracking data confirms.  

It’s unclear what caused the ship to crash into the bridge or why its lights were flickering. CNN has reached out to the National Transportation Safety Board to inquire about a possible power failure. 

The container ship DALI, which was en route to Colombo, Sri Lanka, begins to change course toward the bridge’s pillar at 1:26 a.m. local time, striking the bridge at 1:28 a.m. ET, according to MarineTraffic data and video from the scene. Video from 1:25 a.m. ET shows a plume of dark smoke billowing from the ship. DALI’s lights flicker at least twice before the incident.  

In video, as it navigates down the Patapsco River, the ship’s lights can be seen going out at 1:24 a.m. ET, before turning back on, and then flickering off and on again between 1:26 a.m. ET and 1.27 a.m. ET, just before it hits the bridge.  

Maryland State Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld told reporters there were workers on the Francis Scott Key Bridge at the time of its collapse.

“We know there were individuals on the bridge at the time of the collapse, working on the bridge, contractors for us,” he said at a news conference Tuesday morning.

Wiedefeld said the workers were “basically doing some concrete deck repair,” but said they did not know how many vehicles were involved.

He added that the transport authority has set up a facility for family members of those who were believed to be on the bridge at the time of its collapse.

Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace says authorities have detected vehicles submerged in the water.

“Our sonar has detected the presence of vehicles submerged in the water,” said Wallace at a news conference on the collapse of Francis Scott Key Bridge. “I don’t have a count of that yet.”

He said emergency services are using sonar, drones and infrared technology as a part of their search for people and vehicles who may have fallen from the Key Bridge into the Patapsco River.

Baltimore Police said there was no evidence that the ship collision that caused the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge was intentional.

“There is absolutely no indication that there’s any terrorism, that this was done on purpose,” Chief Richard Worley said at a news conference.

The FBI said that it was joining the investigation into the cause of the collision.

Rescue crews have determined there are vehicles in the Patapsco River following the bridge collapse.

“Our sonar has detected the presence of vehicles submerged in the water,” said Fire Chief James Wallace. “I don’t have a count of that yet.”

Wallace said they are waiting to make sure that the ship is secure and stable before investigators board it.

“Never would you think that you would see, physically see, the Key Bridge tumble down like that,” Mayor Brandon M. Scott said.

The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River outside the Port of Baltimore threatens to disrupt shipping operations at a major US trade hub for autos, container traffic and commodities. Baltimore also has a cruise terminal.

Closer to the Midwest than any other port on the East Coast, Baltimore ranks first in the United States for autos and light trucks, handling a record 850,000 vehicles last year. It was also the leading port for farming and construction machinery, as well as imported sugar and gypsum. It was second in the country for exporting coal.

Overall, Baltimore ranks as the 9th biggest US port for international cargo, handling a record 52.3 million tons, valued at $80.8 billion in 2023.

“The immediate focus is the rescue operation, but there will clearly be a highly-complex recovery phase and investigation to follow and we don’t know what impact this will have on operations at the Port of Baltimore,” said Emily Stausbøll, market analyst at Norway-based shipping analytics company Xeneta.

“While Baltimore is not one of the largest US East Coast ports, it still imports and exports more than one million containers each year so there is the potential for this to cause significant disruption to supply chains,” she added.

Baltimore’s cruise terminal serves ships operated by Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Norwegian. Cruises carrying more than 444,000 passengers departed from the port last year.

According to the Maryland state government, the port supports 15,330 direct jobs and 139,180 jobs in related services.

Rescue operations are underway near the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, as crews look for people who fell into the Patapsco River.

“We are still very much in an active search and rescue posture at this point, and we will continue to be for some time,” Wallace added.

Baltimore Fire says two people have been rescued from the river – one who was uninjured, and another in hospitalized “very serious condition.”

“This is an unthinkable tragedy,” Mayor Brandon Scott said. “We have to first and foremost pray for all of those impacted.”

The container ship that collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday was chartered by Maersk and carrying their customers’ cargo, the Danish shipping company told CNN.

“We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected,” The company said in its statement.

The company, which has a full name of A.P. Moller - Maersk, said no company crew and personnel were onboard the vessel. It said the ship, DALI, is operated by charter vessel company Synergy Group. 

“We are closely following the investigations conducted by authorities and Synergy, and we will do our utmost to keep our customers informed,” the statement said. 

CNN is attempting to contact the owner and managers of the ship, including Synergy.

FBI Baltimore personnel are on the scene at the Francis Scott Key Bridge, they have said in a post on X.

The agency said it was working “side by side with our local, state and federal partners.”

The Baltimore Fire Department Chief James Wallace says authorities rescued two people from the water this morning, one without injury and the other who has been transferred to hospital in a serious condition.

Authorities are continuing their search for upwards of seven people, Wallace says. But, he says that number could change as it is a “very large incident.” Earlier on Tuesday, an official said as many as 20 people could be in the water.

Wallace added that the crew remains on board the ship, and are communicating with the US Coast Guard. He added that emergency services are looking into reports that there were workers on the bridge at the time of the incident.

Speaking at the press conference, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott also described the incident as an “unthinkable tragedy,” and offered his prayers for all those affected, as well as his thanks to first responders.

Authorities are holding a news conference on the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore after it was struck by a large ship.

Divers and search and rescue teams are searching for people in the Patapsco River after several vehicles are believed to have fallen into the water, including one as large as a tractor-trailer, said Kevin Cartwright, director of communications of the Baltimore City Fire Department.

The water at the scene of the collapsed bridge is about 48°F (9°C) making rescue operations all the more urgent for anyone who may potentially be in the water, CNN’s Derek Van Dam says.

“Water temperature of roughly 50 doesn’t sound all that cold, but indeed that type of water temperature can be deadly.”

“Water drains body heat about four times faster than cold air actually can,” he said on CNN’s This Morning program.

Van Dam said there is a one to three-hour window at which the body could sustain temperatures that cold. But, he said underwater divers immediately got into the water to start a search and rescue operation, “that is why it is so incredibly crucial.”

Earlier, Kevin Cartwright, director of communications of the Baltimore City Fire Department, told CNN temperatures around the port at 1:30 a.m. ET felt to be around 30 °F (-1°C).

Maryland Governor Wes Moore has declared a state of emergency following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

“We are thankful for the brave men and women who are carrying out efforts to rescue those involved and pray for everyone’s safety,” the governor’s statement said.

The US Coast Guard (USCG) is responding to the Francis Scott Key Bridge emergency after receiving a report that a container ship hit it at 1:27 a.m. ET “and it subsequently collapsed,” according to a public affairs officer Kimberly Reaves of the Coast Guard’s 5th District.

There are reports of vehicles in the water, according to Reaves, who says the Coast Guard has deployed “multiple” response units for a search and rescue mission.

“Coast Guard units on scene include small boats from Station Annapolis and Station Curtis Bay and a helicopter from Air Station Atlantic City,” the statement read.

Reaves said that multiple state and local agencies are assisting, and it is unclear if there are any casualties.

US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg spoke to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, according to a post from the secretary on X. 

Buttigieg said that “rescue efforts remain underway and drivers in the Baltimore area should follow local responder guidance on detours and response.”

The vessel that hit Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge was a container ship, the DALI, according to public affairs officer Kimberly Reaves of the US Coast Guard’s 5th District.

A container ship named DALI “hit the Francis Scott Key bridge” at 1:27 a.m. ET “and it subsequently collapsed,” Reaves said in a statement.

Maritime tracking website MarineTraffic showed that the Singapore-flagged ship stopped in Baltimore, where it was departing with a destination of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The website showed the ship stopped around 1:30 a.m. ET and was surrounded by first response boats.

At about 1:30 a.m., local agencies reported receiving 911 calls that a large ship traveling outbound from Baltimore had struck a column on the bridge, Kevin Cartwright, spokesperson for the Baltimore Fire Department told AP. 

The ship is around 300 meters (984 feet) long with a width of around 48 meters (157 feet), according to MarineTraffic data.

CNN is attempting to contact the owner and managers of the ship.

This post has been updated to add comments from the Coast Guard.

Officials will begin assessing the condition of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after it collapsed early Tuesday, Kevin Cartwright, director of communications of the Baltimore City Fire Department told CNN.

“This bridge has been in place for quite some time and has served many, many commuters in the Baltimore metropolitan area. So as the investigation ensues, there will be structural engineers involved to try and assess what the condition of the bridge is,” Cartwright said.

Currently, conditions are “unsafe” but investigators will also assess the condition of the bridge before its collapse, according to Cartwright.

“This is a very devastating incident in which these individuals have encountered so our hearts go out to each and every one of them, and we will be working valiantly throughout the early morning to address this,” he said.

Freezing conditions and limited visibility at the site of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore could “pose a concern” as rescue crews search for at least 20 people believed to have fallen into the water.

Kevin Cartwright, director of communications of the Baltimore City Fire Department, told CNN they are working with the US Coast Guard and a team of divers are in the river for search and rescue operations, with temperatures around the port at around 30 °F (-1°C).

“This happened at 01:30 a.m. with limited visibility so we are working aggressively, considering the environmental temperatures as well as the water temperatures to try and rescue and perhaps recover individuals,” Cartwright said.
“It feels like at least about 30 degrees (-1°C) where I am. It could be slightly lower than that. And I’m sure that the water temperature is even colder… And that can pose a concern and risk for our divers.”

Cartwright said the teams were working “methodically and safely” to ensure “everyone operating here on the scene is safe and that we’re able to make progress without causing adverse harm to anyone else.”

Baltimore is facing a “mass casualty multi agency incident,” with response teams working to rescue around 20 people who may have fallen into the river when the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed.

“We are in the midst of managing a mass casualty multi agency incident here,” said Kevin Cartwright, director of communications of the Baltimore City Fire Department.
“Unfortunately, we understand that there are up to 20 individuals who may be in the Patapsco river as well as multiple vehicles,” he told CNN.

Cartwright said they are working with the US Coast Guard and a team of divers are in the river for search and rescue operations, with temperatures around the port at around 30 °F (-1°C).

There could have been a vehicle “as large as a tractor trailer” on the bridge at the time of collapse, Cartwright said.

The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after it was struck by a large ship is a “very significant crash” and will raise many questions, CNN correspondent Gabe Cohen said.

“This is a very important bridge. This is along 695 and the videos that are emerging are surreal — to see this container ship collide with the bridge and very quickly that bridge crumbles into several pieces down into the water,” said Cohen, who is traveling to the scene in Baltimore.

Rescue crews are searching for at least seven people in the Patapsco River after multiple vehicles fell into the water when the bridge collapsed, a Baltimore City Fire Department spokesperson earlier told the Associated Press.

Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told the AP the bridge collapse was a “developing mass casualty event.”  

The interstate is used by a lot of commuters alongside a high volume of cargo shipping, CNN’s Cohen said.

“[It] is not just around the Baltimore area, but for those who travel between Washington and New York, it is highly trafficked,” he said. “I’ve taken that bridge dozens of times across the mid-Atlantic northeast region as you’re trying to cross between cities.”

Rescue crews are searching for at least seven people in the Patapsco River after multiple vehicles fell into the water when the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed overnight, a Baltimore City Fire Department spokesperson told the Associated Press.

Local agencies received 911 calls at around 1:30 a.m. ET reporting that a ship, traveling outbound from Baltimore, had struck a column on the bridge, Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department told AP. 

“Our focus right now is trying to rescue and recover these people,” Cartwright told the outlet.

Cartwright said it appeared there are “some cargo or retainers hanging from the bridge,” making conditions unsafe and unstable for emergency responders operating at the scene.

CNN has reached out to Baltimore City Fire Department, Maryland Department of Transportation and US Coast Guard for additional information.  

The 1.6-mile-long Francis Scott Key Bridge extends over the Patapsco River into the Port of Baltimore, according to the Maryland Transport Authority (MTA).

The bridge, which opened in 1977, is named after the author of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the MTA says on its website. Francis Scott Key is believed to have sat near the site of the bridge as he witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry in 1814, inspiring him to write the words of the US national anthem.

The Port of Baltimore handled more than 52 million tons of international cargo worth over $80 billion last year — the ninth-highest total among US ports, according to the Maryland government’s website.

The port supports 15,330 direct jobs and 139,180 jobs in Maryland, according to the site.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott says he is “aware of and en route to the incident at the Key Bridge.”

“I have been in contact with @BaltimoreFire Chief Wallace, @GovWesMoore @JohnnyOJr, and @AACoExec. Emergency personnel are on scene, and efforts are underway,” he posted on X Tuesday.

Video Ad Feedback

49e7065b-4726-497a-b87f-aec3751c277c.mp4

00:37 - Source: cnn

Video footage shows the moment the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed after it was struck by a large ship.

The footage shows a towering boat headed directly toward one of the bridge’s support columns before colliding with it, sending a massive stretch of the bridge crashing into the water below in mere seconds.

The crash sent large plumes of smoke and fire into the air and part of the bridge appeared to collapse over the front of the boat, the footage showed.

Dark smoke continued to rise into the air for several minutes.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed early Tuesday morning after it was struck by a large ship, according to video obtained by CNN.

It is unclear if anyone was injured. 

Maryland Transportation Authority (MTA) says all traffic is being detoured.

CNN has reached out to Baltimore City Fire Department for additional information.  

The 1.6-mile, four-lane bridge extends over the Patapsco River and serves as the outermost crossing of the Baltimore harbor and an essential link of Interstate-695, or the Baltimore Beltway.