The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge has been dominating headlines today (March 26).
The major bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, collapsed into a river after a 948ft container ship crashed into it early on Tuesday (March 26). As a result of the crash, several vehicles plunged into the river, and search teams have been deployed to rescue people from the water.
Check out footage of the crash:
As the story continues to develop, many are left wondering how many casualties have been reported and what updates there are to the search and rescue efforts.
Here's what we know so far...
What exactly happened?At 1:27AM local time, a Singapore-flagged container ship called the Dali collided into one of the Francis Scott Key Bridge's pylons, causing almost the entire structure to plunge into the Patapsco River. The incident is believed to be entirely accidental and not an instance of terrorism, according to authorities, CBS News reports.
Kevin Cartwright of the Baltimore Fire Department described the ordeal as a "mass casualty" event in an interview with CNN.
"We are in the midst of managing a mass casualty multi agency incident here. Unfortunately, we understand that there are up to 20 individuals who may be in the Patapsco river as well as multiple vehicles," he said.
Cartwright confirmed teams were working "methodically and safely" to make sure "everyone operating here on the scene is safe and that we're able to make progress without causing adverse harm to anyone else."
According to authorities, several vehicles fell into the river as a result of the crash. As many as 20 people could be in the water. Two people have been pulled from the river, with one seriously injured. Seven people are reportedly still missing. The missing individuals are thought to be construction workers. Sonar has detected the presence of submerged vehicles.
The vessel was heading to Colombo, Sri Lanka, at the time of the accident.
There were 22 crew members on board (including two pilots) all of whom are safe and uninjured, according to the ship's manager, Synergy Marine Group.
Grace Ocean Pte Ltd is the registered owner of the ship. The vessel is 948 feet long and was holding stacks of containers. It can contain up to 10,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit, or TEU, a measure of cargo capacity. At the time of the accident, it was carrying 4,679 TEU.
The bridge at the center of this story was one of three ways to cross the Baltimore Harbor and saw around 31,000 vehicles cross it a day - that's a staggering 11.3 million vehicles a year.
Opening in 1977, the now-destroyed structure had four lanes and sat 185 feet above the Patapsco River.
Francis Scott Key wrote 'The Star-Spangled Banner' aboard a British ship sailing the Patapsco River during the War of 1812. These days, a red, white, and blue buoy marks the spot where the ship (HMS Tonnant) was anchored at the time.
