Major Bridge in US City Collapses
Emergency officials in the eastern U.S. city of Baltimore, Maryland are responding to the scene of a major bridge collapse Cellphone video showed several sections of the Francis Scott Key Bridge falling into the water after a container ship collided with a support column around 05:30 UTC Tuesday. Authorities say several vehicles were on the bridge when the collision occurred. Baltimore emergency officials say search and rescue crews are searching for seven people believed to be in the water. The vessel was identified by The Washington Post as a Singapore-flagged container ship named Dali. Reuters reports that Synergy Marine Corp, the managers of the Dali, said that the ship collided with one of the pillars of the bridge and that all its crew members, including the two pilots on board, have been accounted for and there were no reports of any injuries. The 47-year-old, 2.5 kilometer long bridge is a major link in the interstate highway that circles the city of Baltimore, one of the largest ports in the U.S. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters. The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports. Subscribe
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