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All six workers missing after a Baltimore bridge collapsed are presumed dead.
On Tuesday, a cargo ship lost power and rammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
Shocking footage shows the bridge immediately collapsing and plunging into the Patapsco River below.
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The six missing people were part of a construction crew filling potholes on the bridge, according to Maryland's transportation secretary, Paul Wiedefeld. The search was put on pause until Wednesday morning, but a senior executive at the construction workers' company, Brawner Builders Executive Vice President Jeffrey Pritzker, says they were presumed dead.
The crash happened just before 1:30am. The container ship was called 'Dali' and was headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka and flying under the Singapore flag. According to data from Marine Traffic, the vessel was about 985 feet long and 157 feet wide.
Synergy Marine Group, which manages the ship, confirmed it hit a pillar of the bridge. There were no injuries reported onboard.
Casualties from the incident were minimized due to the hour of day. The Francis Scott Key Bridge stretches 1.6 miles and was used by 12 million vehicles, and is particularly busy during the morning commute - a few hours after the crash.
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It turns out the ship lost power, causing the crew to issue a mayday call moments before the crash. According to Maryland's governor Wes Moore, this meant authorities could stop cars going over the bridge, dramatically reducing the number of potential casualties.
Baltimore is a vital shipping port, and the collapse of the bridge could disrupt business for months.
Pritzker said: “This was so completely unforeseen. We don’t know what else to say. We take such great pride in safety, and we have cones and signs and lights and barriers and flaggers."
Rescuers pulled two people out of the water after the incident, one of whom was treated at hospital and discharged hours later. Authorities said multiple vehicles also fell in, but no one was thought to be inside.
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“It looked like something out of an action movie,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said, calling it “an unthinkable tragedy".
People have been taking to social media to share videos of what the bridge looked like before collapsing. Opened in 1977, it is named after the writer of The Star-Spangled Banner.
In one video shared to X, formerly known as Twitter, the poster shows a video of them driving over the bridge before the crash, likening it to a "rollercoaster" in how steep the decline is when you drive off.