A rescue operation is underway in Baltimore after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in the early morning hours Tuesday after a large container shipped collided with a support pylon causing the bridge to fail.
Video of the collapse immediately began to circulate on social media showing the 948-foot vessel named the Dali, hit the pylon with the bridge immediately collapsing into the Patapsco River.
According to officials, there were eight people on the bridge when it collapsed. Two of the eight people have been recovered with one of those individuals in the hospital with “serious” injuries. Meanwhile, a frantic search remains underway to rescue the remaining individuals who went into the water when the collapse occurred.
As far as the collision itself, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore confirmed the crew on board the ship issued a mayday before the collision enabling authorities to stop any additional traffic from crossing the bridge. In the videos above and those circulating on social media, you can see lights on board the ship go out in an apparent power failure before it veered off course and struck the pylon. Needless to say, Maryland state officials and federal officials have seemingly ruled out any form of terrorism.
Obviously, the focus at this time is solely on the rescue effort, however, attention will eventually turn to the infrastructure of not only this bridge but bridges across the country. According to Gov. Moore, the bridge which began construction in 1972 and opened in 1977 was “fully up to code” when it collapsed. Hardesty and Hanover (H&H), a “full service” infrastructure engineering firm noted on its website that the bridge was last inspected in 2019 as part of a $15M multi-year contract to perform safety inspections, load ratings, and remedial design of the Maryland Transportation Authority’s facilities Statewide. There was a construction crew on the bridge during the collapse, however, according to officials work at the time of the collapse was to fill potholes.
In terms of the Dali container ship, it’s reportedly registered with Singapore and chartered by Danish shipping company Maersk which was carrying their customers’ cargo on its way to Sri Lanka.
