Authorities are working to determine what happened in the minutes before shipping vessel the Dali smashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, sparking a State of Emergency as recuers desperately search for survivors.
It’s currently unclear what caused the catastrophic incident after the ship departed from Baltimore’s Seagirt Marine Terminal at around 00:24 local time on Tuesday, the BBC reports, citing the Dali’s travel history on ship tracking platform MarineTraffic.
Data indicated the ship’s speed steadily increased and it kept a straight route southeast along the Patapsco River.
At 1.25am, MarineTraffic data shows the vessel then suddenly diverted from its straight course and slowed down.
Around this time, video suggests that all lights on the ship’s exterior suddenly turned off and smoke started to emanate from the vessel’s funnel, the outlet reports.
READ MORE: Baltimore bridge video shows moment entire Francis Scott Key Bridge collapses
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The Dali, a Singapore flagged vessel, then struck part of the bridge at 1.28am, causing the 1.6-mile bridge to collapse.
ABC reports the vessel “lost propulsion” as it left the port and the crew on board had warned Maryland officials of a possible crash, citing an unclassified US intelligence report.
“The vessel notified MD Department of Transportation (MDOT) that they had lost control of the vessel and a collision with the bridge was possible,” the outlet quoted the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency as saying.
“The vessel struck the bridge causing a complete collapse.”
Flight tracking website FlightRadar24 showed the Maryland State Police circling the crash site in a helicopter.
Baltimore City Mayor Bradon M Scott also took to social media to discuss the collapse. He wrote: “I’m aware of and en route to the incident at the Key Bridge. I have been in contact with @BaltimoreFire, Chief Wallace, @GovWesMoore, @JohnnyOJr, and @AACoExec Emergency personnel are on scene, and efforts are underway.”
All lanes are closed in both directions and I-695 traffic is being detoured.
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Baltimore County Fire reported: “20 construction workers, 3 civilian cars believed to be on bridge unaccounted for. Water search, ship list, fuel concerns, bridge power cut.”
A Baltimore City Fire Department spokesperson said the collapse is a “mass casualty event”, but the number of casualties have not yet been confirmed by emergency services.
Chief Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore City Fire Department, said his team are “trying to rescue and recover these people.”
He added: “[It’s a] developing mass casualty event. This is a dire emergency.”
The ship is also said to be leaking diesel into the river.
According to Vessel Finder, the ship was headed to Colombo in Sri Lanka from Baltimore, and was expected to arrive there on April 22.