The Francis Scott Key Bridge in the US port of Baltimore collapsed early on Tuesday after being hit by a container ship, sending cars and up to 20 people into the river below.
Rescuers searched the Patapsco River for survivors after large sections of the 1.6 mile (2.57 km) Francis Scott Key Bridge were submerged.
Baltimore City Fire Department spokesman Kevin Cartwright told Reuters there could be as many as 20 people in the river, along with numerous vehicles and possibly a tractor trailer or a vehicle the size of a tractor trailer.
“This is a mass fatality, multi-agency incident,” he said, noting that the operation would take days.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore has declared a state of emergency. In a statement, he said the state was “working with an interagency team from the Biden administration to rapidly deploy federal resources”. The FBI in Baltimore said in a statement on X that its personnel were “on the scene”.
The bridge, which opened in 1977, spans the Patapsco River, which, along with the Port of Baltimore, is one of the most important shipping lanes on the US East Coast.
Baltimore is the busiest auto shipping port in the US, according to the Maryland Port Administration.
Shipping and insurance sources said it was not immediately clear if any other ships were damaged or if operations to and from the port were halted.
“At about 1:30 a.m., we received multiple 911 calls that a vessel had struck the Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing it to collapse,” Cartwright said.
Baltimore police said they were notified of the incident at 1:35 a.m. ET (535 GMT).
The vessel was identified by LSEG vessel tracking data as the Singapore-registered container ship Dali. The registered owner of the vessel is Grace Ocean Pte Ltd and the operator is Synergy Marine Group, according to LSEG data.
Synergy Marine Corp said the Dali struck one of the pillars of the bridge and all crew, including two pilot masters, were accounted for and no injuries were reported.
The Dali was chartered by shipping company Maersk (MAERSKb.CO) and the new tab was opened during the incident, the Danish company said in a statement.
“We are appalled by what has happened in Baltimore,” Maersk said.
Reuters could not immediately reach Grace Ocean for comment.
