Horrifying footage shows moment Baltimore bridge collapses after being hit by ship

A huge bridge in Baltimore has collapsed after being struck by a cargo ship early this morning, yielding some truly shocking footage.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was hit by a large vessel on one of its support columns, with a large section appearing to collapse into the Patapsco River below.

Videos show the roadway across the bridge breaking apart in several places and plunging into the water, with several vehicles falling with it.

One angle was posted to X (formerly Twitter), with the sped-up footage showing a large boat approaching the bridge and clearly hitting the support column.

Local authorities said they were searching for at least seven people in the water after the bridge collapsed. Several vehicles were on the bridge at the time, including one the size of a tractor-trailer truck.

The accident took place at around 01:30 in the morning, and the search for survivors is ongoing, with the water temperature in the river reportedly sitting at around 47 degrees Fahrenheit (8 degrees Celsius).

Talking to the Associated Press, Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department said: "This is a dire emergency. Our focus right now is trying to rescue and recover these people."

He said it was to early to know how many people were affected, calling the collapse a “developing mass casualty event".

Meanwhile, footage of the collapse has started to spread widely on social media.

It's a shocking watch, too - after the vessel appears to hit the bridge, it catches fire, with thick, black smoke billowing out of it.

According to Cartwright, it would seem that the ship that hit the bridge was called 'Dali'. It was en route from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Baltimore serves as a major shipping port, so this kind of large vessel isn't an unusual sight in the area.

People reacted with shock below those videos posted to X, including one person who spotted something before the moment of impact: "0:33 to 0:49 sec in, the ship’s lights go out then come back on. Power loss?"

Indeed, the boat's lights do indeed go dim and then return in that period, fueling speculation that it may have had some sort of technical issue - something that will doubtless be investigated in time, once the more urgent situation is resolved.