Baltimore bridge collapse: What do we know about the incident and the cargo ship?

Published

1 year ago

March 26, 2024

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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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.”

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.

“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.

US

Charlie Kirk suspect arrested after tip-off from father

Published

2 hours ago

September 13, 2025

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Charlie Kirk suspect arrested after tip-off from father

US officials have confirmed the suspect in the killing of Charlie Kirk has been arrested and identified as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson.

Utah governor Spencer Cox started a news conference with the phrase “we got him”, adding that a member of Robinson’s family alerted authorities. It has been widely reported that Robinson’s father had turned him in.

The details broadly match information released by US President Donald Trump earlier on Fox News.

Explainer: All we know about the suspect

Mr Kirk, 31, a Trump supporter and right-wing influencer, was fatally shot in the neck on Wednesday afternoon while speaking to university students at an event in Utah.

Two people were previously arrested and then released, with officials saying they were only persons of interest.

FBI director Kash Patel, who also spoke at the news conference, confirmed the suspect was taken into custody on Thursday at 10pm local time (5am UK time).

He praised Mr Cox and Mr Trump for their support and finished with a message for Charlie Kirk: “To my friend Charlie Kirk. Rest now, brother. We have the watch and I’ll see you in Valhalla.”

Robinson believed Kirk was ‘full of hate’

Mr Cox described how messages between Tyler Robinson and his roommate revealed information about the alleged plot including details about a rifle, matching the description of the weapon recovered after the shooting.

Bullets with messages inscribed on the casings were also discovered with the rifle, including “Hey fascist! Catch!” and “If you read this, you are gay, LMAO”.

Explainer: How Charlie Kirk was killed

Mr Cox said a family member told officials that Robinson “had become more political in recent years” and had criticised Charlie Kirk, adding that Robinson said Mr Kirk was “full of hate and spreading hate”.

Robinson ‘confessed’ to killing

Utah’s governor said a family member reached out to a friend, who contacted authorities on Thursday with information that Robinson had confessed or implied that he carried out the shooting.

Sky’s US partner network NBC News reports the family member was Robinson’s father, who went to a church minister, who then contacted a local sheriff.

Mr Cox said he thought Robinson acted alone and there was no evidence anyone else was involved, but did not speculate on a potential motive. He added that Robinson had been living for a long time with his family in Washington County, in southwest Utah.

Political motivation will feed into the political fallout

We were told that Tyler Robinson, over time, had grown more politically engaged and had a dislike of Charlie Kirk.

Words inscribed on ammunition found discarded included: “Hey fascist, catch!” There were also the words to the song “Bella ciao,” an anthem for the Partisans who fought for the Italian Resistance against the Nazis.

The sentiments would appear to confirm early suggestions of a political motivation – they will feed into the political fallout

If it was inevitable that the assassin would be found eventually, the broader uncertainty is how this episode ends for the United States.

The Utah governor acknowledged dangers when he told the news conference: “This is our moment, do we escalate or do we find an off-ramp? History will dictate if this is a turning point for our country.”

His theme was unity and it’s a message America needs to hear. The danger, laid bare in the aftermath of the shooting, is that it’s drowned out by recrimination. Reaction to the assassination suggests there’s every chance.

Neighbour: He was ‘smart’ and ‘quiet’

Kristin Schwiermann, a neighbour of the suspect’s family, said he was “smart”, “quiet” and “never caused any problems”.

“I am shocked, very shocked,” she said. “I feel for his mom. She’s a great mom, and he has a great dad.”

At the time of the shooting, Robinson was a third-year student on the electrical apprenticeship programme at Dixie Technical College in Utah.

He previously earned a four-year scholarship to Utah State University, but left after one semester in 2021.

Robinson did not appear to have any criminal history, according to state records. He was a registered voter but was
not affiliated with a political party, according to voter records.

Mr Kirk was the president and co-founder of Turning Point USA, a prominent organisation that engages conservative youth on school campuses.

Read more: Who was Charlie Kirk?

The father of two, who had millions of followers across social media, appeared at Utah Valley University on Wednesday as part of a planned tour of US college campuses.

Vigil for Kirk held in London

A vigil for Mr Kirk was held at the Montgomery Statue in Whitehall, in central London, on Friday night.

The sombre event was organised by Turning Point UK, the British branch of Kirk’s right-wing youth political organisation.

“Charlie Kirk laid his life down for young people,” said Maisey.

While Jade, wearing a Make America Great Again hat with “RIP Charlie Kirk” written on it, said: “I was very, very sad when I heard the news. I didn’t agree with everything he said but that’s OK! I’m just sad I never got to meet him.”

Turning Point UK’s chief executive Jack Ross told the crowd: “Charlie Kirk has a fantastic legacy and he did so much to shape politics in the West. He stood up for free speech, he stood up for what’s right and we demand justice.

“Charlie was not killed because he talked. He was killed because people listened.”

Charges expected next week

Robinson is due to make an initial court appearance next Tuesday, when he is also expected to be charged, the Utah County attorney’s office said.

He is being held without bail after being arrested on suspicion of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily harm and obstruction of justice charges, according to a court affidavit.

‘Big breakthrough’, says Vance

Mr Kirk’s body was flown back from Salt Lake City to his home state of Arizona on Air Force Two on Thursday, with the US vice president and close friend JD Vance on board.

On Friday, Mr Vance posted on X that the arrest was a “big breakthrough”. He added: “We took a big step this morning in getting justice for Charlie, and for his family.”

Mr Trump said he plans to attend Mr Kirk’s funeral, although no date has yet been set.

US

All we know about the suspect in Charlie Kirk’s shooting – and how he was caught

Published

8 hours ago

September 12, 2025

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All we know about the suspect in Charlie Kirk's shooting - and how he was caught

The suspect in the shooting of Charlie Kirk is in police custody after a two-day manhunt.

The right-wing influencer, 31, was fatally shot on Wednesday afternoon while speaking at an event on Utah Valley University campus in Orem.

Police began searching for the shooter on the campus, before eventually extending the manhunt to nearby neighbourhoods.

The suspect has been named as Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old man from Utah, and the governor’s office has released a photo of him in custody.

US president Donald Trump told Fox News the suspect was in custody on Friday, adding “somebody that was very close to him turned him in”.

Officials have now revealed further details about the suspect, including what a family member said about him and messages he sent a friend about his alleged plot.

Here’s what we know about the suspect so far:

How was the suspect caught?

Mr Trump told Fox News that a person “very close” with the suspect went to “the father”, who then went to a US Marshal.

“The father convinced the son,” he said, adding that they then “drove into the police headquarters, and he’s there now”.

He added that he may need to be corrected and that he was “talking based on what I’m hearing”.

In a news conference later, Utah Governor Spencer Cox said a member of Robinson’s family reached out to a family friend, who then contacted the Washington County Sheriff’s Office with information that Robinson “had confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident”.

NBC news reports that the family member is his father – and that the father then went to a church minister he knew, who contacted a local sheriff.

He said the family member told the FBI that Robinson “had become more political in recent years” and that, at a dinner prior to the shooting, he had mentioned Mr Kirk’s upcoming visit to Utah Valley University.

Mr Cox said they had “talked about why they didn’t like him and the viewpoints that he had” and that “the family member also stated Kirk was full of hate and spreading hate”.

He went on to say that messages between Tyler Robinson and his roommate revealed details about the alleged plot.

“The content of these messages included messages affiliated with the contact ‘Tyler’ stating a need to retrieve a rifle from a drop point, leaving the rifle in a bush, messages related to visually watching the area where a rifle was left, and a message referring to having left the rifle wrapped in a towel,” he said.

Latest updates as suspect named

Mr Cox added that there was no evidence to suggest anyone else was involved, but that the investigation was ongoing.

He said the suspect was taken into custody in Washington County, in southern Utah, around a three to four hour drive from Orem, where his family lived.

Pictures and footage released by the FBI

Mr Cox also said that the suspect changed clothes on campus.

He said footage “first spotted” him with one outfit on, which he allegedly changed while on the roof of one building.

Mr Cox said he then “changed back into that clothing at some point” – meaning the first outfit.

All this meant, the governor said, that when he was arrested, the suspect was wearing the same clothes he had on before the shooting.

Earlier, Mr Trump had said the suspect was “28 or 29”, but caveated that his facts were “subject to be corrected” and “based on what I’m hearing”.

Before news of his capture came in, the FBI had released images of a “person of interest” in the shooting, later revealed to be Robinson, showing him wearing a hat, sunglasses, and a backpack.

They also released video footage of him fleeing after the incident, where he could be seen walking on the roof of the building from where the fatal shot was fired.

He was then seen climbing down and heading toward a wooded area, where police say he abandoned his rifle.

The first description of the suspect came from a police officer on her radio shortly after the shooting, who said he was “wearing jeans, black shirt, black mask, long rifle”.

Beau Mason, commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, later said he “appears to be of college age” and that he “blended in well with a college institution”.

What else do we know about Robinson?

Sky News have now verified what appear to be school records posted in 2020 by his mother which show a 4.0 average – a very high score, akin to straight As in the UK.

“This boy is a genius,” she added.

Robinson expected to be charged with aggravated murder

The suspect is expected to be charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury and obstruction of justice, according to a probable cause affidavit.

The offences are all state charges.

Mr Cox said that under Utah law, they have three days to file charging documents, and that it should come “early next week.”

Utah officials previously said they were going to seek the death penalty for Charlie Kirk’s suspected shooter.

What weapon did the shooter use?

The weapon was found after the shooting in a wooded area where the shooter had fled, according to FBI agent Robert Bohls.

He described the gun as a “high-powered bolt action rifle”.

Investigators collected a footwear impression, a palm print, and forearm imprints for analysis.

Firearms consultant David Dyson told Sky News that, based on the range from where they are believed to have fired, the gunman would likely need to be a somewhat skilled target shooter.

But he suggested that while the shot may be difficult for anyone without experience, it’s “not a great range” for someone with practice.

US

What we know about how Charlie Kirk was killed

Published

20 hours ago

September 12, 2025

admin

What we know about how Charlie Kirk was killed

Chaos broke out at Utah Valley University when prominent right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk was shot dead in front of thousands of people.

Mr Kirk, 31, was speaking to students about mass shootings on Wednesday when he was shot in the neck, leading students to flee and a manhunt for the killer beginning.

Many questions remain, with differing accounts and multiple videos across social media.

The Sky News Data and Forensic team has tracked and mapped the events before, during and after the killing to find out as much as possible about what happened.

When and where did the shooting happen?

Mr Kirk was speaking to around 3,000 people from under a small white tent on the campus when he was shot.

The event was part of his “prove me wrong” series, which saw the right-wing influencer visit campuses across the country and debate contentious subjects like gun control, free speech, LGBTQ+ rights and abortion rights with left-wing students.

The event began at roughly 12pm local time.

Mr Kirk was taking questions about mass shootings and gun violence when, at roughly 12.20pm, he was shot.

It was a single shot that struck him in the neck, a university spokesman confirmed.

Madison Lattin, who was standing only a few dozen feet to the left of Mr Kirk when he was shot, said: “Blood is falling and dripping down, and you’re just like so scared, not just for him but your own safety.”

Footage from the scene showed Mr Kirk being carried away within seconds of the shooting.

Where did the shot come from?

In a statement on Thursday, the FBI said they had tracked the gunman’s movements onto the campus, “through the stairwells, up to the roof, across the roof, to a shooting location”.

They said they first tracked his movements from 11.52am, when they said he arrived on campus.

Videos from the event show the gunman was on top of the Losee Centre building – just over 130m away from where Kirk was speaking, according to an online measuring tool.

Two videos show a figure on the roof before and immediately after a shot is fired.

The first video shows what appears to be someone lying down. The person filming says “he just ran from over there” – pointing in the direction of a stairwell coming up the roof.

The second video is filmed in the moments after the shot is fired. You see a silhouette that appears to stand and move away from the roof’s edge.

Using videos taken near the stage, Sky News was able to confirm that this position has a direct line of sight to where Kirk was sitting at the time of the attack.

Audio analyst Rob Maher has estimated the distance the shot travelled, reaching a similar conclusion to Sky News’ analysis.

“The time gap between the crack sound and the pop sound in the recordings close to the podium is about 240 milliseconds,” he told Sky News.

“Since the exact trajectory of the bullet and the bullet’s speed is not known, I have to make an assumption that the bullet speed was likely about 800 meters per second. With that assumption, the time gap indicates that the firearm was likely about 140m from the podium”.

What weapon was used?

The weapon suspected of being used in the shooting has been found, according to FBI agent Robert Bohls, who told a news briefing in Orem, Utah, that it was a “high-powered, bolt-action rifle”.

“That rifle was recovered in a wooded area where the shooter had fled,” he said. “The FBI laboratory will be analysing this weapon.”

Mr Bohls added that they also found an “impression of a palm print and forearm imprints for analysis”; however the shooter remained at large.

Firearms consultant David Dyson told Sky News that, based on the range from where they are believed to have fired, the gunman would likely need to be a somewhat skilled target shooter.

But he suggested that while the shot may be difficult for anyone without experience, it’s “not a great range” for someone with practice.

“There’s target disciplines, for instance, [at] 800m. So you can shoot quite accurately at far greater distances than 150 yards,” he said.

“If we’re in that sort of ballpark, then you’re not looking at somebody with phenomenal skill,” he added.

What do we know about the shooter?

A manhunt is under way for the killer, which began on the university campus but has now extended beyond.

Police radio recordings show the first mention of the incident at 12.26pm, about six minutes after the shooting occurred.

Officers were on the scene within minutes, with one officer describing the suspect at 12.35pm as “wearing jeans, black shirt, black mask, long rifle”.

By 12.58pm, 32 mins after the shooting, armed officers could be seen checking the perimeter of the Losee building.

In an update on Thursday, authorities offered a few more details about the shooter, who they referred to as a male.

Beau Mason, commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, said he “appears to be of college age” and that he “blended in well with a college institution”.

The authorities added they were “doing everything we can to find him” but that “we’re not sure how far he has gone yet”.

The FBI later released images of a “person of interest” in the shooting.

Two people were arrested after the shooting, but neither was determined to have any connection with the shooting and were later released.

What sort of security was on site?

Witnesses have spoken about a supposed lack of security checkpoints, with people being able to walk into the event with backpacks without being searched.

“Anybody in the world could park anywhere around the university and walk right in,” one witness told Sky News affiliate NBC news.

The UVU website states that “generally, anyone is allowed to enter areas that are open to the public” but non-public areas are restricted by “access cards, locked doors, or monitored entryways”.

A 2012 drone video shows the area around the shooter’s location on the 4th floor. A metal railing encloses an accessible balcony area which means that to reach the roof where the shot was taken, they could have climbed or jumped over the railing.

Extra security measures were put in place for the event. UVU Police Chief Jeff Long said six police officers were there as well as plainclothes police officers in the crowd.

Chief Long confirmed that Mr Kirk also had a security team, which travels with him, and said he coordinated with Mr Kirk’s lead security officer.

Analysis of the videos from the event show at least four men, who appear to be Kirk’s security team, surrounding the stage.

“We train for these things, and you think you have these things covered,” Chief Jeff Long said in his statement last night.

“You try to get your bases covered and unfortunately today we didn’t”.

The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.