Mayor says rescue efforts are under way after vessel crashed into Francis Scott Key Bridge, sending vehicles into water

A portion of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore has collapsed after a large boat collided with it early on Tuesday morning, sending multiple vehicles into the water.

At about 1.30am, a vessel crashed into the bridge, catching fire before sinking and causing multiple vehicles to fall into the water below, according to a video posted on X.

“All lanes closed both directions for incident on I-695 Key Bridge. Traffic is being detoured,” the Maryland Transportation Authority posted on X.

Matthew West, a petty officer first class for the coastguard in Baltimore, told the New York Times that the coastguard received a report of an impact at 1.27am ET. West said the Dali, a 948ft (29 metres) Singapore-flagged cargo ship, had hit the bridge, which is part of Interstate 695.

  • @I_Miss_DanielEnglish
    22•8 months ago

    Time for a redundant array of inexpensive bridges?

    (computer joke about backups and resilience.)

    Or on a more serious note, maybe a tunnel?

    • @CaptPretentious
      10•8 months ago

      So which version of RAIB you thinking? Because obviously, this has to be hardware, can’t do this with software. IMO, RAIB-5 is probably overkill but I think the locals would appreciate it.

      • @NegativeInf
        7•8 months ago

        I’m thinking RAIB-0. Not one problem there. No problems at all.

      • @quaddo
        2•8 months ago

        What sort of cabling, do you suppose?

        Strong Cable Support Infrastructure?

      • @TastyWheat
        1•8 months ago

        RAIB-0 would be interesting enough. Each car split into equal parts across multiple bridges.

    • @RagingRobot
      10•8 months ago

      They also have a tunnel and other Bridges

    • @AA5B
      8•8 months ago

      There are two tunnels, plus you could go the long way around or on local streets. However there’s a lot of traffic, plus the tunnels have restrictions against hazardous or oversized loads

    • @bitchkatEnglish
      2•8 months ago

      The Beowulf Bridge.

      • @[email protected]
        6•8 months ago

        They are, with restrictions for hazmat, propane, and similar materials, so another tunnel with the same restrictions would be a major headache.