Moment bridge collapses in Baltimore after cargo ship collision

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. The Baltimore mayor, Brandon M Scott, and and the county executive, Johnny Olszewski Jr, said emergency personnel were at the scene and rescue efforts were under way.

The Guardian on YouTube: 

#Baltimore #BaltimoreBridge #US

[KoongYe]

In a movie, the bridge would take about 5 minutes until it collapses after the crash. In real life, it took less than 5 seconds. It is devastating how fast your fate is decided when you are at the wrong place at the wrong time.

[lraoux]

That bridge took about 5 years to build (April 1972 - March 1977) and less than 30 seconds to collapse entirely.

[rakeshkrishnan]

To all those who r wondering about civilian casualties, The ship reported a power failure before impact, which enabled officials to stop traffic on the bridge before the collapse.

[smoothpoon]

This video doesn’t do justice to how enormous this bridge actually is

[BigFatherJohnson]

people don’t realize this is a san francisco bay bridge sized structure collapsing into one of the busiest shipping channels in the us

[shareesmurray]

Right in back of my house..they have launched the rescue boats...shoutout to all the First Responders

[emilsr]

It's crazy how a heavy and strong steel bridge can collapse like a house of cards in a matter of seconds.

[vgrazzzyy]

right in my backyard and it’s now worldwide news. crazy to actually hear the insanely loud noises it made and have no idea what actually happened until hours later

[JA-zeyb]

Nightmare at 1:30 am and you're crossing a bridge heading home. Everything falling around you as you and your car tip forward heading towards a wall of water in your final seconds of life. Gut wrenching. Heart goes out to victims families in this tragedy.

[kwitecontrary]

Unbelievable... took the whole bridge out

[xdadev]

The ship's local pilots tried to avoid the crash, sadly they couldn't. Also, kudos to the 22 Indian crew guys who alerted the authorities in advance.

[subse]

That's straight outta Final Destination. Praying for everyone involved 😢

[princessofthecape]

For some context:

- Baltimore is the 8th busiest port in America. This will close it for months. All shipping in and out is done.

- The span is 4 lanes, and a mile long. The abutting structure is even longer. Even at a late hour, it is safe to assume dozens of vehicles were on the bridge.

- I-695 is essentially the "Baltimore beltway" - it's designed to allow traffic to skirt the main highway tunnels closer to the city.

[ASh-kiox]

"a portion" ?? u kidding?? the whole thing is gone ! be honest

[xrlad]

Reminds me a bit of what happened in Hobart in Tasmania, Australia in 1975. A cargo ship hit a pylon of a large bridge and brought it down cars and all. Only in that case on top of the ship that promptly sank.

[huntercool]

This is such a tragedy. I don’t live near Baltimore, but this disaster has deeply affected the entire country. I’m just thankful they were able to get mostly everyone off the bridge after the ship out an SOS. But there were still casualties.

[hans]

I am a former seafarer from the and am deeply shocked to see these images. my condolences go out to the family, friends and acquaintances of the victims of this enormous tragedy.

[crwnc]

Calling a container ship a “large boat” is absolutely ridiculous

[BowlofIndoMee]

Must be friggin terrifying to be on the bridge when it collapsed. Tragic

[voldemort]

That happened so fast, no time to do much to save yourself. RIP to those who lost their lives.