Breaking – ‘Mass casualty event’ as Baltimore Key Bridge collapses after being hit by ship 

Breaking – ‘Mass casualty event’ as Baltimore Key Bridge collapses after being hit by ship 

Baltimore: A bridge in the US city of Baltimore has completely collapsed into the Patapsco River after being hit by a container ship.

Baltimore City Fire Department has said there could be up to 20 people and several vehicles in the river due to the bridge’s collapse. 

Rescue teams are currently on the scene. 

Kevin Cartwright, director of communications of the Baltimore City Fire Department, now says temperatures around the port are around 30 °F (-1°C), where a team of divers are carrying out search and rescue operations.

BREAKING: Ship collides with Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing it to collapse pic.twitter.com/OcOrSjOCRn

— BNO News (@BNONews) March 26, 2024

The fire department said a large ship hit a Francis Scott Key Bridge column at around 01:30 ET (05:30 GMT). 

Videos online show the bridge entirely descending into the water. 

There are said to be numerous casualties and now a large multi-agency rescue and recovery operation is underway.