While many of the initial news reports are highlighting the impact this disaster will have on road traffic, particularly commuters in the vicinity of Baltimore, this is actually a relatively minor concern compared to the real problem here -- the complete shutdown of all shipping into and out of the port of Baltimore (the 4th busiest on the East Coast) until the wrecked bridge can be cleared away and the sunken ship removed from the shipping channel.
More details from The Guardian:
A portion of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed after a large boat collided with it early Tuesday morning, and multiple vehicles fell into the water. Authorities were trying to rescue at least seven people.
Around 1:30 a.m., a large vessel crashed into the bridge, catching on fire before sinking and causing multiple vehicles to fall into the water below, according to a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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Emergency responders were searching for at least seven people believed to be in the water, Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told the Associated Press around 3 a.m.
He said agencies received 911 calls around 1:30 a.m. reporting a vessel traveling outbound from Baltimore that had struck a column on the bridge, causing it to collapse. Multiple vehicles were on the bridge at the time, including one the size of a tractor-trailer.
“Our focus right now is trying to rescue and recover these people,” Cartwright said. He said it’s too early to know how many people were affected but called the collapse a “developing mass casualty event.”
Cartwright said it appears there are “some cargo or retainers hanging from the bridge,” creating unsafe and unstable conditions, and that emergency responders are operating cautiously as a result.
“This is a dire emergency,” he said.
Just saw this cross the newswire, from NBC news:
A major bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, partially collapsed Tuesday morning, possibly leaving a number of people in the river below, police said.
A spokesperson for Baltimore Police Department told NBC News that it had been notified of the incident at the Francis Scott Key Bridge, an enormous steel structure which carries the Interstate 695 over the Patapsco River southeast of the Baltimore metropolitan area.
“I can confirm at 1:35 a.m., Baltimore City police were notified of a partial bridge collapse, with workers possibly in the water, at the Francis Scott Key Bridge,” Detective Niki Fennoy said in a statement.
Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski, Jr. said on X that he was aware of the incident and in touch with the fire service chief, the mayor of Baltimore and other local officials. "Please pray for those impacted," he said.
NBC News has contacted the U.S. Coast Guard and other emergency response agencies for further details.
The Maryland Transport Authority confirmed that the I-695 was shut because of the Key Bridge collapsing due to a "ship strike."
Built in 1977 and referred to locally as the Key Bridge it later named after the author of the American national anthem. The bridge is more than 8,500 feet, or 1.2 miles, long in total. Its main section spans 1,200 feet and was one of the longest continuous truss bridges in the world upon its completion, according to the National Steel Bridge Alliance.
This sounds like a major disaster for Baltimore in particular, and a real transportation bottleneck for the mid-Atlantic region. Needless to say, let’s hope there weren’t too many people on the bridge at that late hour when it collapsed; and the ship captain that caused this collapse is going to have a whole lot of explaining to do… Stay tuned for further updates.