UPDATE (March 27, 2024, 9:12 a.m. ET): The six people missing, some of whom are originally from Guatemala, Mexico and El Salvador, are now presumed dead, the Coast Guard said. A recovery operation is underway for their bodies.
At least six people are missing after the Francis Scott Key Bridge, a major road bridge in Baltimore, collapsed overnight when a container ship collided with one of its pillars, officials said.
The Singaporean-flagged cargo ship, the Dali, was leaving the Port of Baltimore when it crashed into the bridge around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace said at an early morning news conference. When the vessel struck it, there were vehicles on the bridge, as well as contractors working on repairs, Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said.
One person was rescued and is in the hospital, and another is out of the hospital, he said at a news conference later Tuesday morning. The other six are still unaccounted for. All eight of them were involved in the construction work on the Key Bridge, he said.
Brawner Builders Inc. confirmed to NBC News that it had a crew working on the bridge when it collapsed. It’s unclear how many of its workers were there or are still missing; the company declined to say.
Stunning footage of the incident shows the 948-foot vessel striking one of the bridge’s pillars, sending the structure crumbling into the water.
Preliminary investigation points to an accident, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Tuesday morning. The FBI said that there is “no specific and credible information to suggest any ties to terrorism at this time.”
Moore had earlier declared a state of emergency. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has also offered his support to Maryland and Baltimore officials.
Wiedefeld said that construction workers on the bridge at the time of impact were fixing potholes, not making repairs to the structure of the bridge. Moore said the bridge was “fully up to code.”
The vessel, which had been chartered by the shipping giant Maersk, was bound for Sri Lanka. Synergy Marine Group told NBC that the ship’s 22 crew members have been accounted for and no injuries were reported. The company said it was cooperating with government agencies.
Moore said the crew on the ship had notified officials about a power issue and issued a “mayday” before the vessel crashed, allowing authorities to stop more cars from getting onto the bridge.
The Key Bridge is a major bridge in Baltimore; it carried more than 12.4 million commercial and passenger vehicles in 2023, according to a state government report in November. The Port of Baltimore is also a crucial shipping port on the East Coast, especially for vehicle shipments.
