Summary
●A bridge in the US city of Baltimore has entirely collapsed into the Patapsco River after being hit by a container ship
●Seven people and several vehicles have fallen into the river, says Baltimore City Fire Department who are currently at the scene
●The fire department says a large vessel hit a column of the Francis Scott Key Bridge at around 01:30 ET (05:30 GMT)
●Videos on social media appear to show the bridge entirely descending into the water
●No casualties have been reported and there is now a large multi-agency rescue and recovery operation under way
What we know so far about the Baltimore bridge collapse
At around 01:30am local time (05:30 GMT), a 911 caller reported an incident in the Francis Scott Key Bridge area.
Chief Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore City Fire Department confirmed to us that the bridge had been struck by “a large vessel” causing it to collapse into the Patapsco River.
He also told us that “as many as seven individuals and several vehicles” have fallen into the river.
There is now an ongoing multi-agency rescue operation being led by the fire department, collaborating with the US Coastguard and other Maryland agencies.