Baltimore Key Bridge collapse: vehicles fall into water after being hit by ship
www.theguardian.com
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.

  • PutangInaMo@lemmy.world
    0·
    8 months ago

    I’m so confused why a mayday wasn’t sent out earlier though. Like they had to have known collision was imminent.

    And weren’t there local authorities on board that were guiding them through the waterway?

    • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
      0·
      8 months ago

      They lost power, dropped anchor, and called a mayday. By the sound of it the pilot probably did everything perfect. But whatever caused the power loss and engine failure is gonna be looked at very closely.

      I think new procedures for having tugs hooked up until ships are entirely clear of port may be on their way - even if they’re mostly just escorts unless the ship’s engines fail.

      There’s gonna be a lot of pointing fingers and yelling, but hopefully in the end things will be safer than they are today. From the sound of it we got really lucky on the “lives lost” side of things.