A motorist was shocked to learn he narrowly escaped almost certain tragedy by crossing the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, just minutes before its catastrophic collapse.
A cargo ship crashed into one of the bridge’s supports early Tuesday morning. Amid speculation, Baltimore Police Chief Richard Walley has declared that there is “no indication” that the “mass casualty incident” of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse was intentional. The cargo ship “lost propulsion” before hitting the bridge, the report said.
The Baltimore Fire Department quickly determined it was a “mass casualty incident” and announced early Tuesday that it “deployed numerous water rescue resources to respond just before 2 a.m.”
RELATED — ‘Mass Casualty Incident’: 1.6-mile Baltimore Bridge collapses after being hit by cargo ship
BCFD via Storyful, Jamie Krauss via Storyful
mass casualty incident #bcofd Officers responded to numerous water rescue efforts just before 2 a.m. after receiving reports of a vessel colliding with the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse. Motorists are advised to avoid the area of Interstate 695 and Key Bridge. pic.twitter.com/PDk8JQ8B4M
— Baltimore County Fire Department (@BaltCoFire) March 26, 2024
The quick turn of events shocked one motorist, who realized he had been crossing the bridge just three minutes before it collapsed into the Patapsco River.
RELATED — Dramatic video: Baltimore resident captures moment of bridge collapse
every daily mail:
Baltimore resident Jen Woof heard the devastating news that the Francis Scott Key Bridge near her home in Fort Armistead had collapsed. That’s when his 20-year-old son, Jaden, woke him up and told him he had survived.
Panicked, Ms Woof’s son said she had just driven across the bridge just three minutes before it dramatically collapsed when the container ship Dali hit it at about 1:15am this morning.
Ms Woof told the Telegraph that her son “came to my house in a panic, screaming for me and showing me the video his friends had taken of the bridge collapse here at Fort Armistead”. Ta.
“In fact, he was almost arriving at our house when his girlfriend started texting him asking if he was OK,” adding that he didn’t realize what had happened until that moment. Ta.
“He thought they were texting because they were arguing, but she said the bridge had collapsed,” he said, according to the newspaper.
according to First responders reportedly had less than two minutes to stop traffic on the bridge before the crash. When police learned that the boat had lost control, they moved to try to stop traffic as much as possible. PBS reported that one of his officers was trying to warn bridge construction workers, but was “too late.”
two At least eight people who fell into the water have been rescued, but the remaining six remain missing.
RELATED: Search continues for survivors after bridge collapses after being hit by cargo ship
Bill Ferguson, Storyful
