Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapses after being hit by ship: Live updates

Authorities said they have been told there were workers on the bridge at the time of the crash.

Maryland’s secretary of transportation, Paul Wiedefeld said that there were contractors who were working on the bridge at the time of the collapse, who were “doing some concrete deck repair”.

Speaking at a press conference, fire chief James Wallace confirmed there were people on the bridge at the time of the collapse.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was ‘not designed’ to survive a head-on collision with a large vessel, an expert has told The Independent.

“The video of the collapse will be incredibly useful to the teams involved in assessing the causes of the failure and how it progressed, as this would otherwise have to be done by careful analysis of the destroyed structure and comparison with modelling,” Dr Andrew Barr, an expert in civil and structural engineering at the University of Sheffield said.

“The video doesn’t show any obvious structural deficiencies with the bridge, but it will not have been designed to survive a head-on collision with such a large vessel. Bridges in shipping lanes are sometimes designed with strong, stout piers, or additional protective structures around the piers to prevent ships from coming into contact with the bridge structure. It doesn’t appear that the Key Bridge had either of these features, although it is also very likely that the size and design of the vessels passing under the bridge has changed considerably since it was completed in 1977,” he added.

US President Joe Biden has been briefed on the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore and the ongoing search and rescue efforts, the White House said on Tuesday.

“He will continue to receive updates from his team throughout the day,” the White House said.

The Dali container ship that crashed into a Baltimore bridge on Tuesday “lost propulsion” as it was leaving port, and the crew notified officials they had lost control of the vessel, ABC reported, citing an unclassified intelligence report.

“The vessel notified MD Department of Transportation (MDOT) that they had lost control of the vessel and an collision with the bridge was possible,” ABC quoted the report by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency as saying. “The vessel struck the bridge causing a complete collapse.”

There were 22 crew members on board at the time of the crash, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said.

All crew members have been accounted for and there are no reports of any injuries, they added.

Baltimore port traffic is suspended until further notice.

Maryland’s Transportation Authority called the incident a “major traffic alert” and redirected cars to the I-95 or I-895 highways. Large trucks are prohibited from using the 1-95 tunnel route that goes under the Baltimore harbor.

The cargo ship crash caused a “catastrophic collapse,” officials said at a press conference.

Julian Carter, a structural and civil engineering expert, earlier told Sky News that the structures of Francis Scott Key Bridge are “very weak” at certain points.

“It’s what we call a continuous structure every little piece is connected to another – and unfortunately it’s a catastrophic collapse,” they said.