In the US city of Baltimore, a big bridge fell after a cargo ship hit it.
A lot of the 1.6-mile-long Francis Scott Key Bridge can be seen falling into the Patapsco River after the accident at 1:30 a.m. local time (5:30 a.m. UK time).
The video shows cars and trucks going off the bridge.
Two people were saved from the water, but six people are still missing.
One of the people who was saved was in “very serious condition” and is being treated in the hospital. The other person was not hurt.
Officials say that the ship sent out a “mayday” call to let them know that it had lost power before the impact. Later, they said that it had stopped moving and its supports had been dropped before it crashed.
A ship called the Dali loses power, changes its direction, and starts smoking about 60 seconds before it hits the bridge. This is shown by CCTV footage and marine tracking data.
The Maryland Transport Authority said that until further notice, all movement in the Baltimore port has been stopped. Wes Moore, the governor of Baltimore, and Paul Wiedefeld, the secretary of the Maryland Transport Authority, said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon that the people who are still missing are likely building workers who were on the bridge fixing holes.
The two pilots and all 22 crew members on board the ship have been found, and no injuries have been reported.
Mr. Moore said that early information from the probe points to an accident. He said there was no proof of an attack that was linked to terrorism. “To the victims of this tragedy and their loved ones all of our hearts are broken we feel your loss we are thinking of you,” Moore said.
“We pray for the construction workers who were on the bridge and all who have been touched by this tragedy We will get through this.” Brandon Scott, the mayor of Baltimore, announced a local state of emergency. It will last for 30 days while the search for the missing people goes on.
His earlier comment that the fall “looked like something out of an action movie” There is also a probe going on at the National Transportation Safety Board. The container ship, which was 289 meters long, was on its way to Colombo, Sri Lanka when it crashed.
There was a Danish shipping company called Maersk that hired it and said it was “horrified by what has happened.” It said that its thoughts were with everyone who had been hurt.
Vessel Finder and the maritime accident site Shipwrecklog both say that the same ship hit a quay at the Port of Antwerp in Belgium in 2016 and caused a small incident.
The event was said to have damaged the ship, but no one was hurt and there were no reports of pollution.
For locals, the bridge is a “major artery.”
Locals call the bridge the Key Bridge, and Michael Brown, who lives in the area, called it a “major artery” for the area.
NBC, Sky News’ US partner, told Mr. Brown, “This is like an April Fools’ joke right now.”
“The bridge is an important trade route for both cars and ships in the area.” This should make everyone concerned feel better.
Mr. Brown said that the damage to the bridge, which he uses to visit family, was a “major issue.” However, he also said that the “emphasis should be on getting whoever is in the water out.”
The road that goes across the bridge, Interstate 695, was stopped, and the Maryland Transport Authority rerouted traffic.
How it Affects Trade
When ships from the ocean go under the bridge, they reach the 11th largest port in the US. If the bridge is closed, it will have an impact on the whole business. Lloyd’s List editor Richard Meade said that the accident will be a “significant and expensive” operation because it will require diverting marine traffic, affecting trade, and rebuilding the bridge itself.
MarineTraffic says that about 40 ships are still inside the closed port, and another 30 have sent signals that the port is where they want to go.
The Key Bridge, which opened in 1977, is one of the longest continuous truss bridges in the world, along with the Golden Gate Bridge.
It was named for the person who wrote The Star-Spangled Banner, which is the US national anthem and was written after a fight in Baltimore harbor between the US and UK in the War of 1812.
David MacKenzie, chair of the engineering firm COWIfonden, said that rebuilding the bridge will cost ten times as much as the $60 million (£47 million) that was spent on making it in the first place.