BALTIMORE: A container ship rammed into a major bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday, causing it to snap in several places and plunge into the river below. Several vehicles fell into the chilly waters, and rescuers were searching for at least seven people.
The vessel appears to have crashed into one of the supports of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, according to a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. The ship caught fire, and thick, black smoke billowed out of it.
“This is a dire emergency,” Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told The Associated Press. Though he said it was too early to know how many people were affected, he called the collapse a “developing mass casualty event.”
Emergency responders were searching for at least seven people believed to be in the water, Cartwright said. “Our focus right now is trying to rescue and recover these people,” he said.
He added that some cargo appeared to be dangling from the bridge, which spans the Patapsco River at the entrance to a busy harbor. The river leads to the Port of Baltimore, a major hub for shipping on the East Coast. Opened in 1977, the bridge is named for the writer of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore declared a state of emergency and said he was working to get federal resources deployed. The FBI was also on the scene.
Agencies received emergency calls around 1:30 a.m. reporting that a ship leaving Baltimore had struck a column on the bridge, according to Cartwright. Several vehicles were on the bridge at the time, including one the size of a tractor-trailer truck.
The temperature in the river was about 47 degrees Fahrenheit (8 degrees Celsius) in the early hours of Tuesday, according to a buoy that collects data for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
From a vantage point near the entrance to the bridge, jagged remnants of its steel frame were visible protruding from the water, with the on-ramp ending abruptly where the span once began.
The ship is called “Dali,” according to Cartwright. A vessel by that name was headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, as its final destination, according to Marine Traffic and Vessel Finder. The ship was flying under a Singapore flag, WTOP radio station reported, citing Petty Officer Matthew West from the Coast Guard in Baltimore.
Mayor Brandon M. Scott and Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. posted that emergency personnel were responding and rescue efforts were underway.
“All lanes closed both directions for incident on I-695 Key Bridge. Traffic is being detoured,” the Maryland Transportation Authority posted on X.
In 2001, a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed in a tunnel in downtown Baltimore and caught fire, spewing black smoke into surrounding neighborhoods and forcing officials to temporarily close all major roads into the city.
Cargo ship hits Baltimore’s Key Bridge, bringing it down. At least 7 people believed to be in water
https://arab.news/4v6jj
Cargo ship hits Baltimore’s Key Bridge, bringing it down. At least 7 people believed to be in water
- A vessel appears to have crashed into one of the supports of the Francis Scott Key Bridge
Kremlin blasts potential EU deployment of French nuclear bombers
“The proliferation of nuclear weapons on the European continent is something that will not add security, predictability, or stability to the European continent,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
The French president floated the idea during a TV appearance on Tuesday, comparing it to the United States’s nuclear umbrella policy that guarantees Washington would reciprocate if its allies come under nuclear attack.
“The Americans have the bombs on planes in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Turkiye,” Macron told TF1 television.
“We are ready to open this discussion. I will define the framework in a very specific way in the weeks and months to come.”
France is the EU’s only nuclear-armed nation.
Amid Russia’s offensive on Ukraine and US President Donald Trump’s calls on Europe to take more of the burden for its own defense, discussion is growing over extending Paris’s nuclear deterrent to the rest of the 27-member bloc.
Russia, the world’s biggest nuclear power, possesses about 4,000 warheads and views France’s nuclear deterrence as a potential threat to its national security.
“At present, the entire system of strategic stability and security is in a deplorable state for obvious reasons,” Peskov added.
Amid his offensive on Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has several times threatened nuclear escalation, drawing rebukes from the West over “reckless” rhetoric.
‘Albania belongs in EU,’ von der Leyen tells re-elected PM Rama
- EU and French leaders congratulated Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama Wednesday after his party’s electoral victory
BRUSSELS: EU and French leaders congratulated Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama Wednesday after his party’s electoral victory, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailing his “great progress toward our Union.”
“Let’s keep working closely together on EU reforms. Albania belongs in the EU!” von der Leyen said on X. French President Emmanuel Macron also hailed Rama’s win, writing on X: “France will always stand alongside Albania on its European path.”
Germany arrests three Ukrainians suspected of spying in exploding parcel plot
BERLIN: Germany has arrested three Ukrainian nationals on suspicion of foreign agent activity linked to the shipment of parcels containing explosive devices, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
The suspects are believed to have been in contact with individuals working for Russian state institutions, federal prosecutors said in a statement.
France says to expel Algerian diplomats in tit-for-tat move
PARIS: France will expel Algerian diplomats in response to plans by Algiers to send more French officials home, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Wednesday, as relations between the countries deteriorate.
Barrot told the BFMTV broadcaster that he would summon Algeria’s charge d’affaires to inform him of the decision that he said was “perfectly proportionate at this point” to the Algerian move, which he called “unjustified and unjustifiable.”
Japanese military training plane crashes with two on board
TOKYO: A Japanese military training plane crashed shortly after takeoff, authorities said Wednesday, with reports saying two people were on board the aircraft which appeared to have fallen in a lake.
“We’re aware a T-4 plane that belongs to the Air Self-Defense Force fell down immediately after taking off at Komaki Air Base” in central Japan, top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said.
“Details are being probed by the defense ministry,” he told reporters.
The T-4 seats two and is a “domestically produced, highly reliable and maintainable training aircraft... used for all basic flight courses,” according to the defense ministry website.
The aircraft was flying around Lake Iruka near Inuyama city north of Nagoya, according to media outlets including public broadcaster NHK.
“There is no sight of the plane yet. We’ve been told that an aerial survey by an Aichi region helicopter found a spot where oil was floating on the surface of the lake,” local fire department official Hajjime Nakamura told AFP.
He said his office had received unconfirmed information that there were two people on board but that they had not been able to independently verify this.
Aerial footage of the lake broadcast by NHK showed an oil sheen on its surface, dotted with what appeared to be various pieces of debris.
Just after 3:00 p.m. (0600 GMT) the local fire department received a call saying it appeared that a plane had crashed into the lake, the reports said.
The reports added, citing defense ministry sources, that the training plane had disappeared from the radar.
The defense ministry was not able to immediately confirm details to AFP.
Jiji Press said the local municipality had said there had been no damage to houses in the area.
