Baltimore, MD - Container Ship Strikes Francis Scott Key Bridge - Mass Casualty Situation

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It's a horrible accident, with a bridge collapsing after being hit by a large ship. The accident is eerily similar to the Almö Bridge collapse in Sweden on January 18, 1980, even the time of the night is the same (1.30 a.m.). A large bulk carrier hit the bridge between the island of Tjörn and the mainland in foggy weather, causing the main span of the bridge to collapse. The crew and pilot on the ship had difficulties to warn motorists of the missing ship, as parts of the bridge had hit the ship, and it was before cell phones. It took about 40 minutes before the road to the bridge was closed on the island side. They had to watch while seven cars drove over the edge, killing eight people. On the mainland side a lucky lorry driver was able to stop 10 metres before the abyss, as he had been driving very slowly due to bad weather, and he noticed the missing railing of the bridge.
A new bridge was constructed in 17 months.
Almö Bridge - Wikipedia
 
Rikissa said:
It's a horrible accident, with a bridge collapsing after being hit by a large ship. The accident is eerily similar to the Almö Bridge collapse in Sweden on January 18, 1980, even the time of the night is the same (1.30 a.m.). A large bulk carrier hit the bridge between the island of Tjörn and the mainland in foggy weather, causing the main span of the bridge to collapse. The crew and pilot on the ship had difficulties to warn motorists of the missing ship, as parts of the bridge had hit the ship, and it was before cell phones. It took about 40 minutes before the road to the bridge was closed on the island side. They had to watch while seven cars drove over the edge, killing eight people. On the mainland side a lucky lorry driver was able to stop 10 metres before the abyss, as he had been driving very slowly due to bad weather, and he noticed the missing railing of the bridge.
A new bridge was constructed in 17 months.
Almö Bridge - Wikipedia
Click to expand...
I first thought of the Big Bayou Canot railway bridge disaster.

en.m.wikipedia.org

Big Bayou Canot rail accident - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org

Though that one was down to human error and flawed bridge design.

The lights going on and off makes me think this was a mechanical failure, possibly with an electrical fire. I do hope that it wasn't completely avoidable.

MOO
 
WATCH LIVE: Officials giving update after ship rams into Baltimore bridge, causing it to collapse into river.

NBC News: Baltimore County Fire says they were able to remove two people from the water after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, one person was uninjured, another was seriously injured. They say they are preliminarily looking for another 7 people. Says it is subject to change


https://twitter.com/x/status/1772570717391118616
 
Up for work and watching the live presser now. You can clearly see cars go into the water. The person speaking now says they can’t confirm there were workers on the bridge and that their sonar has detected vehicles in the water.
 
Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace said at 6:30 a.m. that two people were rescued from the water so far. One person was taken to a trauma center in very serious condition, the other declined medical treatment. A search-and-rescue operation continued over a large area.

www.wbaltv.com

LIVE UPDATES: 6 workers presumed dead after Baltimore bridge collapse, coast guard says

A cargo ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed overnight, sending cars and a construction crew into the Patapsco River.
www.wbaltv.com www.wbaltv.com
 
iamshadow21 said:
<snip>
The lights going on and off makes me think this was a mechanical failure, possibly with an electrical fire. I do hope that it wasn't completely avoidable.

MOO
Click to expand...
At least the weather can't be blamed, as it looks like a very clear night. In the Swedish bridge collapse the weather was a contributing factor, it was foggy, and broken ice floe, and the passage was a difficult one, even in good weather. One similarity with the Almö bridge and the Key bridge is that both had bridge piers in the water, so if a ship hit one of the piers hard, the bridge span became unstable.
 
Rikissa said:
At least the weather can't be blamed, as it looks like a very clear night. In the Swedish bridge collapse the weather was a contributing factor, it was foggy, and broken ice floe, and the passage was a difficult one, even in good weather. One similarity with the Almö bridge and the Key bridge is that both had bridge piers in the water, so if a ship hit one of the piers hard, the bridge span became unstable.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the first thing I said to my partner (who has asked me for no further updates, because it was stressing her out) is that it's lit up like a Christmas tree. No fog, no blackout, no storm. Calm and glittering and no question as to where the pylons were. The Big Bayou Canot, lighting (lack thereof) was also a factor. No so here.

And it's not going to be a case of operator fatigue - the Dali was LEAVING port, not arriving. It had only begun to move about twenty minutes earlier.

MOO
 
Last edited:
sds71 said:
WATCH LIVE: Officials giving update after ship rams into Baltimore bridge, causing it to collapse into river.

NBC News: Baltimore County Fire says they were able to remove two people from the water after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, one person was uninjured, another was seriously injured. They say they are preliminarily looking for another 7 people. Says it is subject to change


https://twitter.com/x/status/1772570717391118616
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting this link— at LEAST 7 vehicles—per the fire chief, no way to know exactly how many cars were on the bridge at the time of collapse. One reporter asked if it was 7-20 vehicles and he did not dispute that as a possibility.
 
IDK said:
Thanks for posting this link— at LEAST 7 vehicles—per the fire chief, no way to know exactly how many cars were on the bridge at the time of collapse. One reporter asked if it was 7-20 vehicles and he did not dispute that as a possibility.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'd seen the twenty number floating around. I do hope it's on the lower side. I know the toll is nowhere near what it would have been had it happened at rush hour, but one grieving family is too many, and there is no way this goes that doesn't involve at least a hundred mourners. Strength to them, for the days and weeks ahead.

MOO
 
Wallace said at least two people have been rescued from the water -- one wasn't hurt and one was in "very serious" condition.

The department said on its scanner that there was lots of diesel fuel in the water around the ship and that there were construction workers on the bridge pouring concrete at the time. Wallace said it wasn't clear how much fuel was in the water.
www.cbsnews.com

Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapses after column hit by large ship; vehicles, people in water

Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early Tuesday after a column was hit by a large container ship, sending vehicles and people into the Patapsco River.
www.cbsnews.com www.cbsnews.com
 
IDK said:
Thanks for posting this link— at LEAST 7 vehicles—per the fire chief, no way to know exactly how many cars were on the bridge at the time of collapse. One reporter asked if it was 7-20 vehicles and he did not dispute that as a possibility.
Click to expand...
I guess the true extent of this disaster won’t be known for quite a few hours yet - possibly not until loved ones realise that somebody is missing.
 
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