Updated 08.43 | Published 07.40
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full screen File photo of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. Photo: Matt Houston/AP/TT
A 2.6 kilometer long bridge in Baltimore in the eastern United States has collapsed after a freighter ran into it. It happened in the middle of the night local time, but a number of people and vehicles are said to have ended up in the water.
– It is extremely serious, says Kevin Cartwright, spokesman for the Baltimore fire department, to TT.
Surveillance footage shows the large ship driving into a bridge pier at 1:30 a.m. local time. It then stands still for a minute, and when it appears to be trying to back away from the pillar, the entire bridge collapses in just a few seconds.
Emergency calls started coming in at the same time.
– There are around seven people in the water and possibly several vehicles, says Kevin Cartwright to TT.
The shipping monitoring site Marine Traffic shows how the freighter Dali, registered in Singapore, is now stationary under the bridge. It is said to have just departed from the port of Baltimore bound for Sri Lanka.
A train of rescue boats is moving on the scene.
“This is a dire emergency,” says Cartwright.
The bridge in question, the Francis Scott Key Bridge, is the longest in the area. It runs in a northwesterly direction from the US capital Washington towards New York.