Shocking
footage is coming from Baltimore City, home to the nation's largest
port facilities for specialized cargo (roll-on/roll-off ships) and
passenger cruise ships. It shows a container ship striking the
1.6-mile-long Francis Scott Key Bridge and collapsing it.
🚨#BREAKING: Mass Casualty has been Declared after a Large Container Ship Collides with Key Bridge Causing it completely Collapse⁰
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) March 26, 2024
📌#Baltimore | #Maryland
Currently, numerous agencies, including the Coast Guard and fire department have just declared a mass casualty incident as… pic.twitter.com/wvOTOVbvHE
Here's another view of the container ship strike.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland which crosses the Patapsco River has reportedly Collapsed within the last few minutes after being Struck by a Large Container Ship; a Mass Casualty Incident has been Declared with over a Dozen Cars and many Individuals said to… pic.twitter.com/SsPMU8Mjph
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 26, 2024
According
to the ship tracking website MarineTraffic, the Singapore-flagged cargo
ship "Dali" slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge around 0130 ET.
#MarineTraffic playback showing #Dali, a Singapore-flagged cargo ship, colliding with Francis Scott Key Bridge in #Baltimore. En route to Colombo, Sri Lanka, it crashed at 1:30am. Follow rescue efforts on MarineTraffic and find out more about the vessel: https://t.co/5eiDnqpm2w pic.twitter.com/fykx9cWUF3
— MarineTraffic (@MarineTraffic) March 26, 2024
The bridge spans the Patapsco River and carries an estimated 11.5 million vehicles annually. This collapse means a major shipping lane in and out of the Port of Baltimore City has been severed.
With no commercial vessels sailing in and out of Baltimore City anytime soon, this is catastrophic for port operations and could spark major supply chain snarls in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
Last year, according to the Maryland government's website, the Port of Baltimore managed over 52 million tons of international cargo valued at more than $80 billion, ranking it as the ninth busiest port in the United States.
The port supports 15,330 direct jobs and 139,180 jobs in Maryland, according to the Maryland government's website.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott's office posted on X:
"I'm aware of and en route to the incident at the Key Bridge. I have been in contact with Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace, Gov. Wes Moore (and the county executives of Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties). Emergency personnel are on scene, and efforts are underway."
*Developing...
(Article by Tyler Durden republished from ZeroHedge.com)