Over 20 people trapped in river as Baltimore Francis Scott Key Bridge collapses

At least 20 people have been reportedly trapped and cars plunged in the river below in the U.S. Baltimore bridge collapse which happened in the early hours of Tuesday.

After being struck by a container ship, rescuers were searching for survivors in the Patapsco River after huge spans of the 1.6-mile (2.57 km) Francis Scott Key Bridge crumpled into the water.

As many as 20 people could be in the river along with “numerous vehicles, and possibly a tractor-trailer or a vehicle as large as a tractor-trailer, (that) went into the river,” Kevin Cartwright, the spokesperson for Baltimore City Fire Department, told Reuters this morning.

“This is a mass-casualty, multi-agency event,” he said. “This operation is going to extend for many days,” he added.

In an unverified live video posted on YouTube, the ship was seen plowing into the bridge in darkness. The headlights of vehicles could be seen on the bridge as it crashed down into the water and the ship caught fire.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency. He said in a statement the state was “working with an interagency team to quickly deploy federal resources from the Biden Administration.”

Meanwhile, the FBI in Baltimore said on X that its personnel were “on scene” to put the situation under control.

Baltimore is the busiest U.S. port for car shipments, handling more than 750,000 vehicles in 2022, according to data from the Maryland Port Administration.

It was not immediately clear if any other vessels had been damaged or whether operations had halted to and from the port, shipping and insurance sources said.