Rescuers are searching for as many as 20 people in the water after Baltimore bridge collapse, official says

Rescuers are searching for at least seven people in the water after a ship collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday, causing the bridge to collapse and sending people into the frigid water, Baltimore City Fire Department Chief James Wallace said during a news conference Tuesday morning.

Two people were pulled from the Patapsco River, Wallace said.

One person wasn’t injured and the other was taken to a local trauma centre in “very serious condition,” Wallace said.

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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.

A 948-foot Singaporean-flagged container ship, the DALI, hit the bridge just before 1:30 a.m., public affairs officer for the US Coast Guard’s 5th District, Kimberly Reaves, said.

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

Here are the latest developments:

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore declared a state of emergency Tuesday morning following the collapse. The Coast Guard has deployed “multiple” response units, including boats and a helicopter for a search and rescue mission, according to Reaves. Officials are looking to make contact with the operators of the vessel that struck the bridge in order to assess and identify what happened, Cartwright told CNN.

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,” Cartwright said.

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All traffic is being detoured, said the Maryland Transportation Authority.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said in a social media post around 3 a.m. that he was en route to the incident at the bridge. “Emergency personnel are on scene, and efforts are underway,” he added.

Video of the collision 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 impact immediately triggered the collapse of adjacent portions of the bridge.

A ship collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday, causing the bridge to collapse. (Hartford County Md Fire & EMS PIO via CNN Newsource)

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, video footage showed. Dark smoke continued to rise into the air for several minutes.

The bridge’s namesake, 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 “Star Spangled Banner.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.