Crews are searching for the people who fell into the water after a ship hit Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday, causing it to collapse.
The crash and subsequent collapse happened at approximately 1:30 a.m., resulting in vehicles and people falling into the Patapsco River, Breitbart news noted.
WATCH: “Mass Casualty Event” — 1.6 Mile Baltimore Bridge Collapses After Being Struck by Cargo Ship
According to Baltimore Fire Department Chief James Wallace, crews are searching for several victims. He also noted that two individuals have been rescued following the incident, People reported.
He said, “We are still very much in an active search and rescue posture at this point and we will continue to be for some time. We have a large area that we have to search. This includes on the surface of the water, subsurface, as well as on the deck of the ship itself.”
“We believe at this point we may be looking for upwards of seven individuals, that’s the latest information we have,” he said, adding it was “a very large incident.”
Video footage shows the moment the ship rammed into the bridge and the moment the structure fell into the river below:
Additional video shows a search and rescue helicopter searching for those still believed to be in the water:
According to Breitbart News, there were reportedly serious problems with the MV Dali prior to the crash. Its power went out a few minutes beforehand.
“Now the BBC notes ‘an unclassified memo’ from the U.S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) states it has confirmed the ship ‘lost propulsion’ before hitting the bridge,” the report stated.
Per a video clip from WRAL, it appears the ship’s lights went off and on before it rammed into a section of the bridge:
The ship was reportedly headed for Sri Lanka when the incident occurred. According to Fox 43, the people officials are searching for are members of a construction crew that was working to repair potholes on the bridge.
In a social media post just after 5:00 a.m., Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) said, “My office is in close communication with U.S. Transportation @SecretaryPete Buttigieg, Baltimore @MayorBMScott, @BaltCoExec, and @BaltimoreFire as emergency personnel are on the scene following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.”
“I have declared a State of Emergency here in Maryland and we are working with an interagency team to quickly deploy federal resources from the Biden Administration.” he added in a subsequent post.