On March 26, 2024, people in Baltimore woke up to the news that the Francis Scott Key Bridge had collapsed at about 1:30 a.m. when a 300-foot-long vessel hit a pillar, and the 1.6-mile-long bridge went into the water.
As of about 12 hours later, first responders had pulled two people out of the Patapsco River. One had no injuries, while the other was transported to a local hospital.
Police officers say they believe at least seven cars were on the bridge when it collapsed, so they are continuing rescue efforts in the water near the bridge, which is about 50 feet deep. At least six construction workers were working on the bridge when it collapsed.
Workers completed building the bridge in 1977. It carries approximately 11 million vehicles annually and leads to the Baltimore port, the busiest in the nation for new cars, farm and construction equipment.
The ship that crashed into the bridge was the MV Dali, which workers had constructed in 2015. The ship was registered to a Singapore company Synergy Marine Group, which had leased it.