Baltimore CCTV footage appears to show cargo ship leaking smoke and 'losing power' before hitting bridge
CCTV footage has revealed new details following the catastrophic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
Several people and cars are believed to have fallen into the Patapsco River after the Baltimore bridge was struck by a cargo ship. Up to 20 people are feared to be in the water in the 'mass casualty event'.
Emergency services were called at around 1.30am local time in the Francis Scott Key Bridge area, the Baltimore City Fire Department has confirmed.
Rescue efforts are currently underway, however, it is not yet clear if there have been any fatalities.
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CCTV footage also showed the condition the container ship was in before the incident.
The vessel appeared to be blowing significant black smoke into the air seconds before coming into contact with the bridge. It also appeared to lose power, however this has not yet been confirmed.
Former British Navy Admiral Chris Parry spoke to Sky News about the incident and said it showcased just 'how fragile maritime infrastructure is if you don’t get thing’s right'.
He continued: “It happened at night, as people who saw the video will see, so mercifully there wont be too many people on the bridge, it is not commuter time.
“I am familiar with that channel and all I can say is the ship does look to be rather to the left of the channel, to the port hand side.”
Parry also went on to explain what the smoke could mean and whether he believes there was a failure of some kind.
He said: “Just before he hits the bridge, you can see smoke coming out of the funnel which indicates he is probably trying to go stern with full power.
“I did look to see if there was steering gear failure or indeed an electrical failure but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
“He seems to be off track as he comes in, normally the traffic control system would have warned him about that, that he was on track for the bridge.
“But as you say, a real tragedy and the trouble with a bridge like this, if you take one pier out then everything is going to come down.”
According to ship tracking data, the vessel that collided with the bridge was the Singapore-flagged Dali container ship, which is 300 meters long and was on its way to Colombo in Sri Lanka.
Earlier this morning, Baltimore Mayor Brandon M Scott confirmed he was aware of the incident and was on his way to the scene.
The shipping company, Synergy Marine Group, has since confirmed that nobody on board the vessel - called the Dali - was injured, adding: "Whilst the exact cause of the incident is yet to be determined, the 'Dali' has now mobilised its Qualified Individual Incident response service."
Topics: Baltimore bridge, News, US News
Gerrard Kaonga