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A major bridge has collapsed in the US city of Baltimore after it was hit by a cargo ship in what the city’s fire department has called a “dire emergency”.

Rescue teams are searching the water by the fallen Francis Scott Key Bridge for casualties, with eight people thought to have fallen in, according to the Baltimore City Fire Department (BCFD).

Two people have been rescued from the water and one is in a “very serious condition”, said BCFD chief James Wallace.

Emergency responders are still searching for six people in the water who are believed to be part of a construction crew that was repairing potholes on the bridge, the Maryland Department of Transportation has said.

Francis Scott Key Bridge

Here’s everything we know about the incident so far.

What happened?

A large section of the 1.6 mile-long bridge fell into the water following the collision at around 1.30am local time (5.30am UK time).

The city fire department’s communications chief Kevin Cartwright has called the incident a “developing mass casualty event”, adding it was too early to know how many people were affected.

What does the video show?

It shows the vessel approaching the bridge before the structure collapses into the water.

Vehicles can be seen falling from the bridge.

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Footage showing the moment bridge collapsed

Search of the water ongoing after two people rescued

Emergency services searching the water rescued two people this morning, one of whom has been transferred to a local trauma centre in a “very serious condition”, BCFD chief James Wallace said.

The other person, he added refused care and was not injured.

Baltimore bridge latest:
Ship ‘lost power’ before crash; ‘at least seven people’ still in water – follow live updates
What caused the collision?

Emergency teams may be looking for “upwards of seven individuals”, he said. When asked about why the department’s spokesperson had earlier suggested as many of 20 workers could have fallen in, he noted it was a “very large incident” with a “very large footprint”.

“Information is subject to change as we get more intel,” he added.

Mr Wallace said the “challenging” rescue operation was being guided by dive teams, and added: “We’re battling darkness. It’s quite possible we may have somebody there that we’ve not seen yet.”

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‘We may be looking for upwards of seven individuals’

He said experts will advise on when the “non-survivability point” has been reached.

The BCFD’s chief spokesperson earlier warned: “This operation is going to extend for many days.”

Cars fell into the river

Mr Cartwright said multiple vehicles were on the Key Bridge when it was struck by the ship, one of which was the size of a tractor-trailer.

He said it appears there are “some cargo or retainers hanging from the bridge”, creating unsafe and unstable conditions, and that emergency service workers were operating cautiously as a result.

Francis Scott Key Bridge

Reports all lanes were closed before bridge collapse

There were early reports that all lanes on the bridge were closed before the collapse and all traffic was already being re-routed.

The Maryland Transport Authority confirmed the closure on social media just before 2am, saying “all lanes closed in both directions for incident on I-695 Key Bridge” – but did not say whether they were closed before or after the collision.

It has since been confirmed by Maryland governor Wes Moore that operators of the ship issued a mayday call moments before slamming into the bridge.

Mr Moore said the boat was travelling at a speed of eight knots so there was limited time, but that those who received the distress call prevented vehicles from coming onto the bridge.

“Those people are heroes, they saved lives,” he said.

What do we know about the bridge itself?

The Francis Scott Key Bridge is an enormous steel structure which carries the Interstate 695 highway over the Patapsco River southeast of the Baltimore metropolitan area.

Built in 1977 and referred to locally as the Key Bridge, it was named after the author of the American national anthem.

The bridge is more than 8,500ft, or 1.2 miles, long in total.

File pic: Charles Floyd / Alamy
Image:
The bridge pictured before it collapsed. Pic: Charles Floyd/Alamy

Its main section spans 1,200ft and was one of the longest continuous truss bridges in the world upon its completion, according to the National Steel Bridge Alliance.

What do we know about the ship that hit it?

The container ship, known as Dali, was headed to Colombo in Sri Lanka at the time of the collision.

It appears to have sustained damage, a fire department official told Sky News partner network CNBC, though the ship’s management company Synergy Marine Group said all 22 crew members on board have been accounted for and no injuries have been reported.

It confirmed the Singapore-flagged Dali vessel collided with one of the Key Bridge pillars while under the control of two pilots. The firm said the exact cause of the incident was yet to be determined.

The whole crew is still on board the vessel but are communicating with the coastguard.

ABC News has now reported the crew have told officials the ship had “lost propulsion” as it was leaving the port.

Francis Scott Key Bridge
Image:
Francis Scott Key Bridge

ABC quoted an unclassified US intelligence report by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency as saying: “The vessel notified MD Department of Transportation (MDOT) that they had lost control of the vessel and an collision with the bridge was possible. The vessel struck the bridge causing a complete collapse.”

CCTV and marine tracking data shows the container ship lost power for around 60 seconds about four minutes before it hit the bridge. It appeared to adjust its course and start smoking before impact.

The vessel’s individual incident response service has been mobilised, Synergy added.

According to ship tracking website VesselFinder, Dali had been involved in a 2016 collision at the Port of Antwerp as it tried to leave the port.

It said the vessel had “substantial stern momentum” causing the collision with a stone wall of the quay.

The berth where the ship had been docked was “seriously damaged and closed for cargo handling operations due to safety reasons”, the website said.

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About the Port of Baltimore

The harbour is the deepest in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay – the largest estuary in the US. It has five public and 12 private terminals and is one of the busiest ports in the US.

It’s the most active US port for car shipments, handling more than 750,000 vehicles in 2023, according to data from the Maryland Port Administration.

And it’s the largest US port by volume for handling farm and construction machinery, as well as agricultural products. Last year its agricultural imports totalled three million tonnes, including 1.2 million tonnes of sugar and salt, according to data analysts Kpler.

The Port of Baltimore pictured in 2022. Pic: AP
Image:
The Port of Baltimore pictured in 2022. Pic: AP

More than 40 ships remained inside the port after the incident, data from MarineTraffic shows, including small cargo ships, tug boats and pleasure craft.

It was not immediately clear if any other vessels had been damaged or whether operations had halted to and from the port, shipping and insurance sources told Reuters.

We do know it’s closed to traffic after the incident until further notice.

What have experts said?

A maritime safety expert says the “most likely” cause of the crash was a failure in the ship’s machinery.

David McFarlane, director of Maritime Risk and Safety Consultants Ltd, told Sky News: “The first thing that springs to my mind is: was there a sudden fault with the ship’s engines or the steering gear? The other, of course, is: was there a navigational error?”

Mr McFarlane said a human error was less likely because of the number of people who would have been on duty.

He added: “There should be no room for one-person errors because one of the other people should jump in and say ‘hang on…’.

“The most likely cause of this is a failure in machinery or steering gear, but we just won’t know until the authorities have been on board. And even then, they’re unlikely to say what’s been going on for some considerable time.”

The Singapore-flagged container ship 'Dali' after it collided with a pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland.
Pic:  Harford County MD Fire & EMS/Reuters
Image:
The container ship after it collided with the bridge pillar.
Pic: Harford County MD Fire & EMS/Reuters

Lead up to incident seemed ‘unusual’

“It’s a frightful incident and shows how fragile maritime infrastructure is if you don’t get things right,” said Chris Parry, former Royal Navy rear admiral.

“It’s happening at night… so mercifully, there won’t be too many people on the bridge. It’s not commuter time.”

He said it appears from video footage that the ship was “off track” as it headed towards the bridge, adding: “Normally the air traffic control system would have warned him [the pilot] about that if he was on track for the bridge.

“Frankly it’s a routine operation,” he continued. “We’re going to have to wait for the inquiry to see what happened. But it’s unusual unless they’ve had a mechanical or electrical failure that that sort of thing should happen.”

Francis Scott Key Bridge

Is it normal for a bridge to collapse so suddenly?

Civil and structural engineer Julian Carter told Sky News bridges such as the one in Baltimore are “very weak at points”.

“It proves with many of these structures – and we have similar ones in the UK – that they’re actually quite simple in concept… but they’re very weak at certain points. And a ship collision is quite complex because as a ship impacts, it changes shape.

“But you can imagine the amount of energy that is in that container ship, thousands and thousands and tons that are coming to hit the pier.

Pic: Baltimore City Fire Department Rescue Team
Image:
Photos from emergency responders show the aftermath up close. Pic: Baltimore City Fire Department Rescue Team

Pic: Baltimore City Fire Department Rescue Team
Image:
Pic: Baltimore City Fire Department Rescue Team

“Now they’ve hit the pier, and that certainly would not have been part of the design basis, I would assume, otherwise we’d have very large fenders around that pier base as it’s in the water,” Mr Carter continued.

“An incredibly unfortunate event that with modern technology [like] satellite navigation, we would expect it just simply not to happen.

“But if you then look at the way that it has collapsed, it’s what we call a continuous structure – every little piece is connected to another. And unfortunately, it’s catastrophic collapse.”

Barbara Rossi, associate professor of engineering science at the University of Oxford, said: “The bridge has received a huge impact force on one of its supporting structure. The supporting structure appears to be made of reinforced concrete.”

Professor Rossi added the force impact “must have been immense to lead these massive concrete structures to collapse, leaving the superstructure without one of its supports”.

She added the video footage shows that once the arch collapses, “the entire structure loses its stability”.

How much could reconstruction cost?

A civil engineering specialist has suggested it could cost as much as $600m (£474m).

David Mackenzie, chair of engineering and architecture consultancy COWIfonden, told Sky News constructing the bridge in the 1970s cost roughly $60m.

“It’s going to be over 10 times that to rebuild it at least,” he said.

The pressure on commuter traffic means it will have to be carried out quickly he added, with the procurement process “short cut hugely”.

“It is going to be an expensive rebuild,” he said.

Mr Mackenzie said it will also require a “complete redesign” with enhanced ship impact protection.

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Financial markets were always going to respond to Trump tariffs but they’re also battling with another problem

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Global markets have given Trump a clear no-confidence vote - and his fickleness is making the problem worse

Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.

The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.

The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.

Tariffs latest: FTSE 100 suffers biggest daily drop since COVID

Financial investors had been gradually re-calibrating their expectations of Donald Trump over the past few months.

Hopes that his actions may not match his rhetoric were dashed on Wednesday as he imposed sweeping tariffs on the US’ trading partners, ratcheting up protectionism to a level not seen in more than a century.

Markets were always going to respond to that but they are also battling with another problem: the lack of certainty when it comes to Trump.

More on Donald Trump

He is a capricious figure and we can only guess his next move. Will he row back? How far is he willing to negotiate and offer concessions?

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These are massive unknowns, which are piled on to uncertainty about how countries will respond.

China has already retaliated and Europe has indicated it will go further.

That will compound the problems for the global economy and undoubtedly send shivers through the markets.

Much is yet to be determined, but if there’s one thing markets hate, it’s uncertainty.

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Stock markets suffer sharp drops after Donald Trump announces sweeping tariffs

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Stock markets suffer sharp drops after Donald Trump announces sweeping tariffs

Stock markets around the world fell on Thursday after Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs – with some economists now fearing a recession.

The US president announced tariffs for almost every country – including 10% rates on imports from the UK – on Wednesday evening, sending financial markets reeling.

While the UK’s FTSE 100 closed down 1.55% and the continent’s STOXX Europe 600 index was down 2.67% as of 5.30pm, it was American traders who were hit the most.

Trump tariffs latest: US stock markets tumble

All three of the US’s major markets opened to sharp losses on Thursday morning.

A person works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, March 31, 2025. Pic: AP
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The S&P 500 is set for its worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. File pic: AP

By 8.30pm UK time (3.30pm EST), The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3.7%, the S&P 500 opened with a drop of 4.4%, and the Nasdaq composite was down 5.6%.

Compared to their values when Donald Trump was inaugurated, the three markets were down around 5.6%, 8.7% and 14.4%, respectively, according to LSEG.

More on Donald Trump

Worst one-day losses since COVID

As Wall Street trading ended at 9pm in the UK, two indexes had suffered their worst one-day losses since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The S&P 500 fell 4.85%, the Nasdaq dropped 6%, and the Dow Jones fell 4%.

It marks Nasdaq’s biggest daily percentage drop since March 2020 at the start of COVID, and the largest drop for the Dow Jones since June 2020.

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The latest numbers on tariffs

‘Trust in President Trump’

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN earlier in the day that Mr Trump was “doubling down on his proven economic formula from his first term”.

“To anyone on Wall Street this morning, I would say trust in President Trump,” she told the broadcaster, adding: “This is indeed a national emergency… and it’s about time we have a president who actually does something about it.”

Later, the US president told reporters as he left the White House that “I think it’s going very well,” adding: “The markets are going to boom, the stock is going to boom, the country is going to boom.”

He later said on Air Force One that the UK is “happy” with its tariff – the lowest possible levy of 10% – and added he would be open to negotiations if other countries “offer something phenomenal”.

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How is the world reacting to Trump’s tariffs?

Economist warns of ‘spiral of doom’

The turbulence in the markets from Mr Trump’s tariffs “just left everybody in shock”, Garrett Melson, portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions in Boston, told Reuters.

He added that the economy could go into recession as a result, saying that “a lot of the pain, will probably most acutely be felt in the US and that certainly would weigh on broader global growth as well”.

Meanwhile, chief investment officer at St James’s Place Justin Onuekwusi said that international retaliation is likely, even as “it’s clear countries will think about how to retaliate in a politically astute way”.

He warned: “Significant retaliation could lead to a tariff ‘spiral of doom’ that could be the growth shock that drags us into recession.”

Read more:
Do Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariff numbers add up?

Tariffs about something more than economics: power

It comes as the UK government published a long list of US products that could be subject to reciprocal tariffs – including golf clubs and golf balls.

Running to more than 400 pages, the list is part of a four-week-long consultation with British businesses and suggests whiskey, jeans, livestock, and chemical components.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Thursday that the US president had launched a “new era” for global trade and that the UK will respond with “cool and calm heads”.

It also comes as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a 25% tariff on all American-imported vehicles that are not compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal.

He added: “The 80-year period when the United States embraced the mantle of global economic leadership, when it forged alliances rooted in trust and mutual respect and championed the free and open exchange of goods and services, is over. This is a tragedy.”

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Trump’s tariffs are about something more than economics: power

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Trump's tariffs are about something more than economics: power

Tanking stock markets, collapsing world orders, devastating trade wars; economists with their hair ablaze are scrambling to keep up.

But as we try to make sense of Donald Trumps’s tariff tsunami, economic theory only goes so far. In the end this surely is about something more primal.

Power.

Understanding that may be crucial to how the world responds.

Yes, economics helps explain the impact. The world’s economy has after all shifted on its axis, the way it’s been run for decades turned on its head.

Instead of driving world trade, America is creating a trade war. We will all feel the impact.

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PM will ‘fight’ for deal with US

Donald Trump says he is settling scores, righting wrongs. America has been raped, looted and pillaged by the world trading system.

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But don’t be distracted by the hyperbole – and if you think this is about economics alone, you may be missing the point.

Above all, tariffs give Donald Trump power. They strike fear into allies and enemies, from governments to corporations.

This is a president who runs his presidency like a medieval emperor or mafia don.

It is one reason why since his election we have seen what one statesman called a conga line of sycophants make their way to the White House, from world leaders to titans of industry.

The conga line will grow longer as they now redouble their efforts hoping to special treatment from Trump’s tariffs. Sir Keir Starmer among them.

President Trump’s using similar tactics at home, deploying presidential power to extract concessions and deter dissent in corporate America, academia and the US media. Those who offer favours are spared punishment.

His critics say he seeks a form power for the executive or presidential branch of government that the founding fathers deliberately sought to prevent.

Whether or not that is true, the same playbook of divide and rule through intimidation can now be applied internationally. Thanks to tariffs

Each country will seek exceptions but on Trump’s terms. Those who retaliate may meet escalation.

This is the unforgiving calculus for governments including our own plotting their next moves.

The temptation will be to give Trump whatever he wants to spare their economies, but there is a jeopardy that compounds the longer this goes on.

Read more:
Do Trump’s numbers on tariffs really add up?
Trump hits island home only to penguins with 10% tariffs

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng gestures to Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves following a photo session at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (Florence Lo/Pool Photo via AP)
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Could America’s traditional allies turn to China? Pic: AP

Malcolm Turnbull, the former Australian prime minister who coined the conga line comparison, put it this way: “Pretty much all the international leaders I have seen that have sucked up to Trump have been run over. The reality is if you suck up to bullies, whether it’s global affairs or in the playground, you just get more bullying.”

Trading partners may be able to mitigate the impact of these tariffs through negotiation, but that may only encourage this unorthodox president to demand ever more?

Ultimately the world will need a more reliable superpower than that.

In the hands of such a president, America cannot be counted on.

When it comes to security, stability and prosperity, allies will need to fend for themselves.

And they will need new friends. If Washington can’t be relied on, Beijing beckons.

America First will, more and more, mean America on its own.

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