A state of emergency has been declared for the state of Maryland by Gov. Wes Moorewhile rescuers continue to search for people in the waters of the Patapsco River, where the bridge sank within seconds Francis Scott Key, after the Deli container with the Singapore flag crashed into a pillar.

In his statement the governor states: “We are working with an interagency team to quickly deploy federal funds from the Biden administration. We are thankful for the brave men and women working to save those involved and pray for everyone’s safety.

We will remain in close contact with federal, state and local entities conducting rescue efforts as we continue to assess and respond to this tragedy.”

“Possibly many victims”

The Baltimore Fire Department earlier warned that it is facing an incident with possibly multiple casualties.

Announcements will be made later Baltimore police.

The incident occurred around 1:30 in the morning (local time). The impact caused a fire and then a large part of the bridge Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed.

Baltimore Fire Department Press Office Chief Kevin Cartwright said up to 20 workers on the bridge were believed to have fallen into the Patapsco River.

According to him, there were also vehicles on the Francis Scott Key Bridge at the time of the impact.

The ship that crashed into the bridge is called Deli, it has a Singaporean flag and was carrying containers.

The ship’s collision with a pillar of the bridge was also confirmed by the ship’s owning company, Synergy Marine Group: “The exact causes of the accident have not yet been determined” the company clarified, while adding that all Dali crew members, as well as the two navigators who were on board at the time of the incident, are in good health.

Fireboat operator Andrew Doyle posted on X: “Container ship hits Key Bridge in Baltimore. Part of the bridge has collapsed. Several fire and police boats are on their way.”

Official sources have yet to confirm the collapse, but the US Coast Guard confirmed that a container ship struck the bridge. First responders are believed to be preparing for a mass casualty incident.

Traffic on the bridgewhich is part of Interstate 695, closed in all directions.

What is the bridge?

The Francis Scott Key Bridge is a huge metal structure, portion of Interstate 695 over the Patapsco River, southeast of the Baltimore metropolitan area.

Built in 1977 and referred to locally as the Key Bridge, later named after the author of the American national anthem.

The bridge is over 19 km long in total.

Because it collapsed like paper

The engineer Julian Carter explained to skynews why the bridge collapsed within seconds.

According to him, bridges like the one in Baltimore are “very weak in some places.”

He adds that the “catastrophic collapse” of much of it is because everything is “interlinked” along the structure.

Other large bridges may have central points where there is a disconnection from the rest of the sections.

But in this case the interconnected nature of the bridge means that “when you remove one part of it, the whole system collapses”.

Mr Carter says the “lightweight structure” was probably tested at some point for a collision with a ship and may have passed the test at the time.

But container ships are now “double the area”.

The engineer adds that he expects many harbors and bridge piers to be risk assessed for similar situations.