[Image of a bridge. Credit to Unsplash]

The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after a collision with a massive container ship in Baltimore, Maryland on Tuesday, March 26.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was 3 kilometers long and part of the I-95 interstate.

It was the main north-south highway on the east coast running from Miami, Florida to Maine.

The incident was caused by a 984-foot-long Singaporean-flagged container ship named Dali.

The ship left its dock at about 1:04 a.m. Eastern Time, and was sailing down the Patapsco River on its way to Sri Lanka.

The ship encountered a critical issue with its propulsion system, and its crew notified that they lost control of the vessel to the Maryland officials.

The ship appeared to have lost power prior to the crash and veered right as it was traveling too quickly to change course.

Soon after, it struck a pylon of the bridge at 1:27 a.m., and this brought almost the entire structure into the water.

The bridge had no previous structural issues, Maryland Governor Wes Moore said.

The Baltimore City Fire Department spokesperson confirmed and declared that the collapse was a ‘mass casualty event,’ according to BBC. 

Authorities saved lives by stopping vehicles from crossing the bridge after the ship sent out a mayday call two minutes before the crash.

Two people were rescued, one unharmed and one critically injured.

Nonetheless, six construction workers who were working on filling potholes on the bridge were missing after the collapse, and the bodies of two of them were found on the following day.

Officials have canceled the search for the other missing men, who are presumed dead, as divers can no longer reach the tangle of steel and concrete under water where they believe more victims remain.

The Maryland Senator Ben Cardin described the bridge collapse as a ‘horrific event’ for the country.

“The Port of Baltimore is basically shut down. The channel is blocked. The bridge is down. Traffic is terrible. The impact on our economy is going to be immense,” he said.

The port is the main economic generator for the state of Maryland.

The Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore is the largest port in the US for specialized cargo specifically for wheeled cargo such as trucks and trailers.

The bridge’s collapse has caused a significant economic impact by halting ship traffic at the Port of Baltimore, affecting thousands of dock workers who rely on the busy port.

The containers to Baltimore can likely be redistributed to bigger ports, however, there could be disruptions in shipping cars, coal, and sugar.

“The port handles more cars and farm equipment than any other port in America. And at least 8,000 workers on the docks have jobs that have been directly affected by this collapse,” said the governor of Maryland.

To help port workers, the Maryland Department of Labor established a hotline for unemployment insurance.

More than 1,000 engineers in Baltimore and across the nation are studying the wreckage thoroughly to find the best plan to remove it.

The largest operational crane on the US Eastern Seaboard will begin clearing the wreckage of the collapsed bridge.

Replacing the bridge will likely take years, but the port could reopen within weeks if the debris filling the Patapsco River is rapidly removed.