Mayor says rescue efforts are under way after vessel crashed into Francis Scott Key Bridge, sending vehicles into water

A portion of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore has collapsed after a large boat collided with it early on Tuesday morning, sending multiple vehicles into the water.

At about 1.30am, a vessel crashed into the bridge, catching fire before sinking and causing multiple vehicles to fall into the water below, according to a video posted on X.

“All lanes closed both directions for incident on I-695 Key Bridge. Traffic is being detoured,” the Maryland Transportation Authority posted on X.

Matthew West, a petty officer first class for the coastguard in Baltimore, told the New York Times that the coastguard received a report of an impact at 1.27am ET. West said the Dali, a 948ft (29 metres) Singapore-flagged cargo ship, had hit the bridge, which is part of Interstate 695.

  • francisfordpoopola@lemmy.worldEnglish
    293·
    8 months ago

    That’s a crime scene and a death scene. It’s not going to go quickly. The good news is that it’s a critical roadway and waterway intersection so the feds and state government have motivation to make haste.

    • fishos@lemmy.worldEnglish
      241·
      8 months ago

      Except there is no mystery as to the deaths part. Investigations take a lot of time when there are a lot of questions. The only question here is “why did the boat plow straight into the bridge?”. There’s very little question how/why the bridge collapsed(it got hit directly by a massive cargo ship). No one’s going to question the physics of it. The only question will be “was it captain error or ship error so we know who to fine”. Recovering the ship will be part of answering that and the rest will be communication and maintenance logs.

      • talEnglish
        11·
        8 months ago

        There’s very little question how/why the bridge collapsed(it got hit directly by a massive cargo ship).

        I recently – in the context of IS being in the somewhat bizzare situation of having to argue with the Russian government that they did in fact commit their terrorist act in Moscow – linked to an old The Onion satirical video. It dated to a bit after 9/11 and had the Al Qaeda representative being interviewed – irate at the 9/11 Truther also on the show, who was claiming that the World Trade Center was downed with thermite bombs – using almost the same phrase:

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_OIXfkXEj0

        “We flew an enormous airplane into a building, okay? I think it is obvious what caused the building to crumble.”

    • HobbitFoot @thelemmy.clubEnglish
      62·
      8 months ago

      The accident didn’t happen in the middle of the navigable channel, so you can maintain the pier and ship while clearing the main span.

      As for being a death scene, you likely aren’t going to be able to access the site with divers as it is too dangerous.

      • bitchkat@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        8 months ago

        I saw another article today where they said exactly that. The remaining vehicles are under concrete and its now converted to a salvage mission.