US: Maryland governor declares state of emergency after Francis Scott Key Bridge collapses in Baltimore

Following the collapse of Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland's Baltimore, Maryland governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency on Monday, CNN reported. "We are thankful for the brave men and women who are carrying out efforts to rescue those involved and pray for everyone's safety," the governor's statement said.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed early Tuesday morning after it was struck by a large ship. Meanwhile, the US Coast Guard (USCG) is responding to the Francis Scott Key Bridge emergency after receiving a report that a container ship hit it at 1:27 a.m. ET "and it subsequently collapsed," according to a public affairs officer, Kimberly Reaves of the Coast Guard's 5th District.

Officer Reaves also said that there are reports of vehicles in the water and the Coast Guard has deployed "multiple" response units for a search and rescue mission. "Coast Guard units on scene include small boats from Station Annapolis and Station Curtis Bay and a helicopter from Air Station Atlantic City," the statement read.

Reaves said that multiple state and local agencies are assisting, and it is unclear if there are any casualties. Additionally, Baltimore Fire Department Chief James Wallace said the authorities rescued two people from the water this morning, one without injury and the other who has been transferred to hospital in a serious condition.

"We are still very much in an active search and rescue posture at this point," Wallace said. Wallace added that the crew remains on board the ship, and is communicating with the US Coast Guard. He added that emergency services are looking into reports that there were workers on the bridge at the time of the incident.

CNN reported citing public affairs officer Kimberly Reaves of the US Coast Guard's 5th District that the vessel that hit Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge was a container ship, the DALI "The 948-foot container ship Dali, hit the Francis Scott Key bridge" at 1:27 a.m. ET "and it subsequently collapsed," Reaves said in a statement.

Maritime tracking website MarineTraffic showed that the Singapore-flagged ship stopped in Baltimore, where it was departing with a destination of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The website showed the ship stopped around 1:30 a.m. ET and was surrounded by first response boats. The ship is around 300 meters (984 feet) long with a width of around 48 meters (157 feet), according to MarineTraffic data.

The ship was chartered by Maersk and carrying their customers' cargo, the Danish shipping company told CNN. (ANI)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)