FULL AFTERNOON COVERAGE: Baltimore bridge collapses after ship hits it - people fall into water

this is still a very active rescue and Recovery Mission here this morning here's the best view we can get you of what remains of the bridge right now Governor Moore says those six people are construction workers who were patching potholes on the bridge at the time of the collapse they were not doing structural work uh there is no view of the boat as uh we heard from Alexa but you can see just a stunning image of this bridge collapse here from our advantage we know two people have been rescued on

e is in shock trauma and serious condition and the other amazingly okay even refused medical help after they were rescued officials initially said that several cars were on the bridge when the call came in at 1:30 after the cargo ship collided uh with the bridge but now they're not saying whether or not drivers are trapped in their cars in the water and if they're searching for them Governor Moore saying many cars were stopped at the bridge entrance ahead of time now Coast Guard Cutters and Avia

tion assets many helicopters have been flying around they are part of this rescue and Recovery response the FBI and Governor Moore reiterating this is not a terrorist attack there have been no credible threats made and as for that ship we know it notified authorities of a power issue that they lost power prior to the collision and you can see the lights go out in the video the cargo ship apparently was coming in uh at what officials earlier called a rapid speed of 8 knots but again because they

were able to alert uh of that electrical outage cars were able to be stopped down here now many federal and local govern government entities are working together on this and we want to turn the camera around here and show you there's a lot of media here as well this has of course attracted attention uh Statewide this tragedy and the scope of it that large many many uh reporters and cameras and different Outlets out here waiting right now for that upcoming press conference a state of emergency ha

s been declared and transportation secretary Pete budes uh says emergency response funds of course this is going to take a lot of that to fix should be released rather quickly and of course we are waiting to hear from President Biden uh very shortly uh anytime now this bridge has been open since 1977 it's over a mile and a half long and it's a major major route for so many people uh in this area so of course there are many implications excuse me of this collapse again they're searching for six p

eople six construction workers right now to rescued but the big question is if cars were on the bridge at the time those responses uh that we heard on the scanner are saying that there were several cars and trucks on the bridge at the time of the collapse and that the sonar even detected them in the water but officials remaining very tight lipped as to uh if they are searching for them at this time so that's a big question that we will have at that next press conference that we're waiting uh fro

m the national Transportation safety board the NTSB we are expecting to hear from them it was supposed to be right around now at noon but because of uh the White House they pushed it till 1:00 so we will bring that to you live uh and have more answers to your questions around 1:00 reporting live Maxine Striker fox45 news all right Maxine thank you we are getting a statement from the shipping giant that chartered The Vessel this morning they are saying due to the damage to the bridge and resultin

g debris it will not be possible to read that specific Port of Baltimore for the time being in line with this we are emitting Baltimore on all our services for the foreseeable future and until it is deemed safe for Passage through this area wow A lot of people are reacting to this uh as we see here in our Newsroom but first and foremost this morning President Biden saying he's convening with senior members of his team as we wait for a briefing from him he they've directed every Federal resource

to be available to help with efforts and this we know there's been a lot of conversation between the governor and Pete Budaj this morning but another view here of the dolly the ship that collided with the Francis Scot Key Bridge early this morning close up you can see uh just the metal frame playing over the ship here into the water as Crews continue to search for who possibly remains inside the water another statement coming out from Lamar Jackson for the people and their families that that wer

e a part of the collapsing bridge in Baltimore my heart's thoughts and prayers go out to you all another one here from RG3 prayers for Baltimore uh the Francis Scot ke Bridge collapsed with cars and people on it after being hit by containership overnight still working to get the latest information on the people who were potentially in those cars we will keep you updated as reaction comes in here for The Newsroom all right Taylor the 695 Francis Scot Key bridge over the Patapsco River spent 1.6 m

iles construction began in 1972 And The Bridge opened in March of 1977 scholars believe the span crosses within 100 yards of the site where Francis Scott Key himself witnessed the bombardment of former McKenry on the evening of September 12th 1814 that battle inspired ke to write the words of the Star Spangled Banner well now to our lens Stoler traffic Network here we are expecting some some major issues as a result of this we are also getting some other issues out on the roads you can see those

indicated on the the map right here so keep that in mind for for those folks still traveling here at the lunch hour now if you usually take the keybridge where most of our attention has been directed here this morning for your commute home from work you will need to find a new route this evening the Baltimore Harbor tunnel maybe the fort McKenry tunnel those are the best alternate ways to get across the Patapsco River just be mindful there could be more people than usual likely on that same rou

te now here's the Maryland Secretary of Transportation on what you can do to work around the collapse avoid I 695 Southeast Carter and use I one I95 and I 895 as Alternatives I 695 is being detoured southbound at at Exit 43 the peninsula Expressway and Northbound at Exit 2 Route 10 vessel traffic into and out of the Port of Baltimore suspended until further notice but the port is still open for truck trans trans [Music] transactions it's been a cloudy start to the day and temperatures now slowly

starting to rise 51 over talson and mostly cloudy wind's at this time light around the rest of the state we're seeing temperatures in the 40s and the 50s clouds are going to linger throughout the day and this is all ahead of our next weather maker that system will bring rain to the State starting tomorrow you can already see a little bit further to our West that's where we're tracking those showers this line of rain will'll be heading our way tonight coming up we have a closer look at the timin

g of the rain and I'll also let you know how it looks as we approach opening day and Easter and my Weather Authority forecast back to you all right Jasmine thank you and stay with fox whaty we have exclusive live team coverage all afternoon now all morning we've been live on the scene and we will continue to bring you updates of this devastating collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge some live images right now for you you can see this devastating scene stay with us we'll have more information

after the [Music] break e e the crew that was out there working was basically repairing potholes just so you understand that had nothing to do with a structural issue at all on the facility um at this time one person has been uh rescued and so far and continue our efforts continue in terms of that our breaking news coverage of the Francis Scott Key bridge collapse continues here the bridge fell into the water early this morning after a cargo ship crashed into it we are learning learning now that

the crew of that ship reported a power issue before the crash eight construction workers were fixing potholes on the bridge when it fell two members of that crew have been rescued but six they remain unaccounted for missing one of those workers that was pulled from the water is in serious condition here let's take a look at the timeline of this crash in a minute by minute breakdown it all started at 12:28 this morning the dolly container ship departs from the port and begins to move then at 1:2

4 the dolly lights flicker traveling down the Patapsco River at 1 126 lights continue to flicker as the ship begins to change course toward the key Bridge's pillar at 1:27 the ship hits the Key Bridge by 1:50 first fire Crews arrive on scene reporting a complete collapse of the bridge still right now Crews remain searching for victims who are in the water Governor West Moore declaring a state of emergency here in Maryland he says the Declaration will allow the state to access federal funds to he

lp with the emergency response he says not only are local state local and state emergency crews working rapidly but his office is also in communication with the feds including us Transportation secretary Pete Budaj we also know the FBI is involved in the emergency response in fact earlier this morning we spoke with former FBI agent Dr Tyrone powers about that response if there's a civil lining to what's going on right now it's that post 911 in a terrorist attack all the agencies have kind of fus

ed their efforts that's why you saw the massive response and how quickly they responded so the FBI are watching the waterways the Airways because we're always under the alert for terrorist incidents Homeland Security are always watching these incidents so wherever they care whenever they occur and wherever they occur uh they're ready to for a a coordin effort to go make sure there isn't terrorism to get rescue people out there there've also been multi-jurisdictional training so when you see Balt

imore County and Baltimore city and anaro county and the Coast Guard come together so quickly and there's no conversation about who's in charge of what who's handling what it is because we have kind of prepared ourself for this kind of situation thinking that there may be some kind of terrorist attack on the waterways or in the Airways that's why move out so quickly all right here's another live look at the scene as we're learning that Baltimore mayor Brandon Scott has declared a local state of

emergency the bridge that had been over the water for more than 40 years and providing a key shipping route for the city is now gone earlier this morning associate teaching professor at John's Hopkins University Rachel sandre spoke to the bridge and its structure on Fox 45 Morning News I don't believe the age has uh anything to do with it what happens next is sort of a systems engineering problem right um the aside from the uh search and rescue thinking about how to um you know manage uh traffic

in and out of the Port of Baltimore and uh around the Beltway uh of Baltimore um you the the the bridge collapse um you know I don't believe was a function of its age but uh maybe your your viewers would be interested to hear um the the bridge was a a three- span continuous um uh trust Bridge um so when one of those peers was um was hit uh was removed uh that means that um uh because the bridge was three spans continuous um all of the members were connected together um and so what that does is

that enables us to have a longer uh Span in the middle of the bridge to uh allow cargo ships to pass through um without significant um without more significant stress um on the bridge members uh so when one of those peers was removed um all three of those fans uh came down incredible when you look at those images there the Baltimore Ravens have released a statement thanking First Responders and local leaders for taking action on the scene earlier this morning and are praying for all of the famil

ies who were impacted by this tragic [Music] event all right let's get with meteorologist Jasmine Lomax with a look at your forecast right now for us Jasmine thanks McKenzie and Megan we are looking at temperatures now mostly in the 50s across the state we're going to stay just a couple degrees below average as the afternoon continues and those clouds are going to linger around much of the state this is all ahead of our next weather maker now this afternoon again we do stay dry as temperatures r

ise to the low to mid-50s then tomorrow we get ready for that next system and taking a wider look you can see the rain that we're tracking as it continues to push toward the East this is what's on our way ahead of a pair of fronts this will lead to rain tomorrow morning so this afternoon notice on the future scan the clouds remain then overnight possibly an isolated shower but a lot of that rain starts to move in around Daybreak 6 7 8:00 we're tracking scattered showers then as we head into the

afternoon a lot of that rain pushes over toward the Eastern Shore will stay mostly cloudy around the Baltimore area but more rain will follow on Thursday we wake up to widespread rain moderate and possibly some heavy rain at times then later into the afternoon The Heavy Rain tapers but there is the chance for a couple of stray showers around 3:00 right around first pitch for opening day so this could have impacts on that but as we continue throughout the evening and overnight we'll dry out it lo

oks much better on Friday we're talking sunshine and higher temperatures reaching the 60s so again this afternoon our highs will reach the low to mid-50s staying below average with mostly cloudy skies this is followed by the chance for rain tomorrow we'll start the morning with scattered showers then into the afternoon that rain pushes toward the Eastern Shore we start to dry out into the evening 55 for the high temperature rain Returns on Thursday we're waking up to widespread Rain by the after

noon possibly a few stray showers with impacts possible to opening day 5 for the high temperature will'll return to a dry pattern for the weekend 61 on Friday with a mix of sunshine and clouds 64 on Saturday then on Easter Sunday 65 with partly cloudy skies after that more clouds move in on Monday with highs staying in the mid-60s back to you Chine thank you and stay with Fox 45 we have exclusive live team coverage continuing this afternoon with crws on the scene on both sides of the bridge here

's another live look at the collapse you can see the vastation we hope to learn more information as more news conferences including President Joe Biden expected to speak within the hour I can yes e e e our Administration is working closely with leaders from all levels of government and Society to respond to this crisis and not but just by addressing the immediate aftermath but also by building a state that is more resilient and a state that's more safe all of our hearts are broken we feel your l

oss we're thinking of you and we will our breaking news right there happening as we speak a major rescue operation underway after a container ship struck the Francis Scot Key Bridge yeah the collapse sending the bridge down into the Patapsco River let's take another live look right now where the bridge would be if it were still standing you could see it right there now this collapse happening overnight throughout the morning and into this afternoon we've gotten a better look at the scene in the

massive rescue operation that is now underway we are still very much in an active search and rescue posture at this point and we will continue to be for some time so here's what we know right now we know emergency crews believed that there were at least eight people who fell into the water after that collapse we're told two people have been pulled from the water one of them incredibly was not hurt actually refused medical treatment the other was taken to the hospital in very serious condition th

ere are six however that remain unaccounted for still at this hour believed to be construction workers that were on the bridge repairing potholes at the time now what remains unclear is how many cars might have been on the bridge at the time of the collapse we did get earlier reports from officials that sonar detected Vehicles underwater all of that remains under investigation like you said unbelievable I mean in shock really I mean it's like is this a movie right right um and whatnot I mean it'

s like I say it's a major artery and it's it's really going to affect not only traffic but the port we were awakened with uh what appeared to be an earthquake and a a long rolling uh Sound of Thunder W so uh we woke up and literally we can look right out of our bedroom window and see the Key Bridge but I couldn't see anything because of the darkness and a little bit later got up again to check and I saw some emergency lights in the area and now we're getting a statement from the shipping giant t

hat chartered the vessel in a statement this morning the company says quote due to the damage to the bridge and resulting debris it will not be possible to reach the Port of Baltimore for the time being they went on to say in line with this we are omitting Baltimore on all our services for the foreseeable future until it is deemed safe for Passage through the area right now we want to take you live to the White House actually this is our Baltimore Harbor camera but we are keeping an eye on the W

hite House as well as we are waiting to hear there it is from President Joe Biden he is expected to speak any minute now on the Francis Scott Key bridge collapse we're going to hear from him uh and when we do we will take you there live and listen in as he begins e e e e live from WB fft TV and Baltimore this is breaking news we are still investigating what happened but we are quickly Gathering details the preliminary investigation points to an accident we haven't seen any credible evidence of a

terrorist attack Maryland waking up to devastating images this morning the Francis Scott Key bridge struck by a cargo ship and collapsing at the time pictures showed the bridge almost complet completely submerged in water of the Patapsco River and as we continue our live coverage we've continued to get a better indication and a clearer picture of the extent of the damage taking some live looks just look at this this is an indication of of what it looks like right now surreal when you look at it

in in the light of day this is what we know right now this is the very latest here emergency crews right now are searching for six people in the water this afternoon at least eight members of a construction crew were working on the bridge when it fell we know two of them have been pulled from the water one incredibly was not Hur actually refused medical treatment the other was taken to the hospital in very serious condition the governor says Crews on the boat reported a power issue ahead of the

crash allowing emergency responders to limit the number of cars that were on the bridge at the time those in the area they are just in complete disbelief shock at what they're seeing that's left I was in disbelief I I couldn't believe it it was happening um I thought it was in a dream really we were awakened with what appeared to be an earthquake and a a long rolling uh sound of thunder so uh we woke up and literally we can look right out of our bedroom window and see the Key Bridge but I could

n't see anything because of the darkness and a little bit later got up again to check and I saw some emergency lights in the area and I decided to drive up cuz I'm the old dog chasing the fire truck and uh came up here and what was in progress was a a multi-jurisdictional response to uh a disaster basically now we're joined Now by Maryland state senator Johnny raying Senator thank you so much for joining us this afternoon I know you represent part of this region including parts of where this bri

dge one stood can you tell us what you first learned this morning and kind of what you know at this point Point well thank you for this opportunity and uh my prayers are with all those that uh we're still looking for and for those that are doing the work and uh but we're praying for them now but early this morning about 1:30 2 o'clock this morning I got a couple phone calls so from the president's office and their staff and couple other reporters and they called and they were just letting me kno

w if I had heard or seen anything and so I was I didn't and all of a sudden I got a my phone just went off the hook like most everybody else has and uh what it was was that they were uh calling me and I was calling them back and they were tell me what happened to the Key Bridge and I was like in all yeah I mean the images Senator are just incredible to see the collapse of this bridge into the river now I know that you represent part of this area and now we're talking about the disruption of tran

sportation and how this is such an important route for the commuters what can you tell us and what are you telling constituents at this point about ways to get in and out of some of this area well we're going to be work I do work with the transportation secretary in the state of Maryland part of budget and tax and so I meet with them I've had opportunities to talk with our director at the new director at the Port where we're going to be meeting with them uh we did have a briefing at 11:30 um we'

re making sure that everybody knows the other routes and avenues that they can take between or the route going around the other opposite way of 695 895 95 uh we're working with them to make sure that they know we're having we're going to have conversations with our constituents and if any updates come up we're going to make sure that they know these updates uh as you know it's going to be a ongoing investigation uh it's going to be ongoing work uh the Maryland is in a state of emergency so we wi

ll be able to do uh more with that in place and hopefully move forward quickly but it's going to be a long haul yeah a long haul indeed and now you mentioned uh the state of emergency and we've heard several leaders including the governor talk about working with the federal government I want you to stand by we're awaiting the president to begin his remarks so I apologize if I do have to interrupt you at some point but when it comes to working with the federal and state Partners we know the US Tr

ansportation secretary B Budaj is reportedly making his way to Baltimore right now what does it look like in terms of working with the federal government and these resources to figure out a way forward I know the rebuilding conversation is going to take significant amount of time but what can you tell us about the partnership and the path forward in terms of getting access to some of these areas well knowing that the infrastructure money the catastrophic money that are there that any given situa

tion if there's an emergency which this is so we can work with our federal Partners our state Partners myself and our local partners with the city of Baltimore this is something that we know that we have to move forward with so every part is important the burden is not just on a federal state or local we're working together and I keep on telling people this this is not a party issue this is a people issue we need to move forward we need to work together and the only way we can do that is is we k

now we need to know all the concerns and we need to do it in a safe manner we have planners we have people that do this work we have great workers that work locally in Union and non-union with our you know everybody that we have in as Union for our Builders and our Engineers so let's work together and get this done the burden won't be done won't be on one place as the state but we'll all work together in this absolutely the partnership here obviously will be critical and really the only way to b

ring this forward when it comes to where we stand right now with the general assembly I mean we have about 10 days left of this legislative session do you think that there's room in the the system or is there any conversation happening about what lawmakers can do if anything to help address some of the concerns while the session is underway well I'm I've talked to another Senator this morning we're going to we would like to get with our president of the Senate and have an emergency bill go throu

gh and try to find some legislation to work work through this uh uh throughout this whole session where we want to work with trade Point Atlantic that wants to do some uh drudging we know this is a Deport and this is important that we have a Deport a lot of other places don't have that so we have that here we need to move forward and go to a place where we can have more Deport and other options this is the opportunity that we can have with trade Point Atlantic working with the board of Baltimore

all right state senator Johnny R Elling thank you so much for representing that part of the region including parts of dundock I anticipate you and I will have more conversations in Annapolis once we get through this initial breaking news situation as more information develops but we appreciate you taking the time for joining us this afternoon thank you very much for the opportunity and continue to pray for the [Music] people all right we have some continuing live team coverage now at the scene

bringing us the latest developments let's get right to Fox 45's Alexa Ashwell from the western side of the bridge Alexa McKenzie as we've been sharing with people officials say this is an active search and rescue and just minutes ago we began to hear sounds of the chopper going to zoom in here presumably based on the color and my vantage point um the the emergency rescue chopper this is the uh the scene from the uh Western uh entrance to the Key Bridge you can see uh where the uh cargo ship sits

uh in the water the uh smoke blowing uh from the uh back end there uh this is what we know we're about 11 hours since uh this bridge collapsed and still the images of the mangle steel McKenzie a lot to take in here uh we know just before 1:30 we're told officials say that Mayday call came in the ship uh the cargo ship the dolly uh departing the port had a lost power online records I've been looking into it uh say the ship arrived here just a few days ago on the bridge we're told an 8 person con

struction crew of repairing potholes on the Key Bridge of right now officials searching for six people we're told one taken to uh the hospital and one miraculously okay uh again this is the vantage point from the lower half of the pabco river the Western entrance uh as we were coming in this direction we saw of course that entrance is shut down uh traffic not too bad people have been told to avoid this area uh We've also been told that family has been instructed to gather at a certain location a

s this Active search and rescue is underway but I would say in the past 30 minutes that is the new development that we do see uh the chopper there flying overhead a live look at the uh Dolly cargo ship uh with the uh keybridge as its collapse that mangled seel just an an awful image uh that is the very latest that we have from this vantage point I'm going to send it back to you guys Alexa and it makes you want think about those families watching waiting praying we want to check in now with Maxin

e Striker she is live on the Eastern side of the bridge in dondog Maxine all morning long we saw emergency crews rushing through that very area where you're standing what's the scene out there right now is there still that intense response it doesn't seem to be quite as intense as we showed you earlier and we can show you right now the response here is a lot of media a lot of uh reporters photojournalists here from around uh the state even some foreign journalists as well as you can see we're se

tting up for a press conference we're waiting to hear from the NTS at 1:00 as that search and rescue uh Mission continues here as they begin to look for those six people this is our Vantage Point uh of the collapsed Bridge here we cannot see the ship but we can uh as Alexa pointed out we can hear we can see those helicopters flying around uh several areas here searching for those six construction workers who were patching potholes on the bridge at the time of the collapse we know two people have

been rescued one of them in shock trauma and uh I think we've said it amazingly one of them refused medical treatment um and is doing okay apparently now officials initially had told us and this is the big question today that several cars were on the bridge at the time of the collapse and we can hear that confirmed in scanner audio that there was believed to have been several cars even trucks on the bridge when it collapsed but officials are not confirming if they uh are are actively searching

for cars or drivers in the water this morning only saying they're searching for those six construct C uh workers but we do know that because the ship was able to report those electrical problems ahead of time and call that Mayday some cars were stopped here at the entrance of the bridge from going on or there could be uh even more people unaccounted for uh this morning now Coast Guard Cutters are also in the water uh looking for those six people this morning as the FBI and Governor Moore reitera

te they don't believe this is a terrorist attack there are no signs of any credible threats calling this simply a very tragic accident uh as for that ship as I mentioned we know it did notify authorities ahead of time that it was having those electrical problems and in that stunning video you can see the lights go out before it uh comes in and hits that middle span of the bridge many federal and local government entities working together on this now local uh locally we have Brandon Scott here th

is morning County Executive uh Johnny oefi city council president uh Nick Mosby and then many many other uh congressmen and people on the ground as well as Governor Wes Moore and as I mentioned the media now a state of emergency has been declared Transportation secretary Pete Budaj says those emergency response funds will be released rather quickly because as we know this is going to take days weeks months to clean up and of course a lot of money as well we are told that budes is on his way here

as well as we wait to hear from the NTSB at 1:00 of course when it comes to transportation shipping so many things are interrupted by this uh tragedy here this morning from the bridge that's over uh a mile and a half long and is a major throwaway for so many commuters here in the area again we're waiting to hear you saw the podium set up from the national Transportation safety board at 1:00 still waiting to hear from the White House as well we're uh expecting a response from President Biden so

some of those unanswered questions we have will hope to get answered uh at 1:00 and then have some more updates for you guys we'll be sure to bring that 1:00 press conf conference to you live right here on fox45 and online live for now Maxine Striker fox45 news Maxine thank you state leaders responding to this morning's incident including Governor West Moore as Maxine said the governor also issuing a statement saying again he has declared a state of emergency and is working with an inter agency

team to deploy Federal resources as part of the response the governor goes on to give his thanks to First Responders involved in the ongoing rescue efforts and that he is quote praying for everyone's safety US Secretary of Transportation Pete Budaj also releasing a statement on the keybridge collapse you can see it right there he offers his Department support to the local authorities and says quote I've spoken with Governor Moore and Mayor Scott to offer United States Secretary of Transportation

support following the vessel strike and collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge rescue efforts remain underway and drivers in the Baltimore area should follow local responder guidance on detours and response we're also getting a statement from the shipping giant that chartered The Vessel marisk says quote we are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore and our thoughts are with all of those affected the problem on these kinds of vessels they are so huge that if you lose power if you lose st

eerage there is literally nothing you can do I cannot recall of any precedent of where I've seen this happen before I mean this this is really a unique event so here's what we've learned about this ship as we take a live look of what's left of it right there we have learned that ship that struck the Key Bridge was the Singapore based container ship it's called the dolly it's nearly 1,000 ft long just imagine that it arrived in Baltimore 3 days ago according to vesselfinder.com it left the port j

ust after 1:00 this morning 25 minutes later at 1225 marine traffic data shows that ship suddenly diverting from its straight course and began to slow down it was around this time that there was video that showed all the lights on the exterior of the ship suddenly turned off and smoke began just billowing from the ship's funnel in the back well the dolly then hit a portion of the bridge that was at 128 causing it to collapse we're also hearing reports that the ship lost power before it crashed t

he ship's lights reportedly flickered on a veered off course before it hit the bridge Governor Moore says the ship issued a mayday before colliding into the bridge and that call allowed authorities to stop incoming traffic the ship also dropped its anchor prior to impact as part of its emergency procedures after losing propulsion again all 22 crew members are safe and accounted for all right just into our Newsroom President Joe Biden stepping up to the podium to speak about the bridge collapse l

et's listen in struck the Francis Scott Key bridge which I've been over many many times commuting from the state of Delaware our trainer by car been in Baltimore Harbor many times and uh the bridge collapsed sending several people and vehicles into the water into the river and the multiple US Coast Guard units which are stationed very nearby thank God were immediately deployed along with local emergency personnel and the Coast Guard is leading the response to the port where representatives from

the Federal Highway Administration the FBI Department of Transportation the Army Corps of Engineers as well as Maryland officials and Baltimore Police and Fire they're all working together to coordinate an emergency response officials at the scene estimate eight people were unaccounted for still not still were unaccounted for that number might change two have been rescued one without Injury One in critical condition and the search and rescue operation is continued for all those remaining as we s

peak I spoke with Governor Moore this morning as well as the mayor of Baltimore the county executive United to both United States senators and the congressman and my secretary of transportation is on the scene I told them we're going to send all the federal resources they need as we respond to this emergency I mean all the federal resources and we're going to rebuild that Port together everything so far indicates that this was a terrible accident at this time we have no other indication no other

reason to believe there's any intentional act here Personnel on board the ship were able to alert the Maryland Department of Transportation that had lost control of their vessel as you all know and reported as a result local authorities were able to close the bridge of traffic before the bridge was struck which undoubtedly saved lives our prayers are with everyone involved in this terrible accident all the families especially those waiting for the news of their loved one right now I know every

minute in that circumstance feels like a lifetime you just don't know it's just terrible we're incredibly grateful for the brave Rescuers who immediately rush to the scene and to the people of Baltimore who want to say we're with you we're going to stay with you as long as it takes I like Governor said you're Maryland tough you're Baltimore strong and we're going to get through this together and I promise we're not leaving here's what's happening now the search and rescue operation is our top pr

iority ship traffic in the Port of Baltimore has been suspended until further notice and we'll need to clear that channel before the ship traffic can resume the Army Corp Engineers is on the spot and is going to help lead this effort to clear the channel the Port of Baltimore is one of the nation's largest shipping hubs and I've been there a number of times as a senator and as a vice president it handles a record amount of cargo last year it's also the top port in America for both imports and ex

ports of automobiles and light trucks around 850,000 Vehicles go through that Port every single year and we're going to get it up and running again as soon as possible 15 ,000 jobs depend on that port and we're going to do everything we can to protect those jobs and help those workers the bridge is also critical to for travel not just for Baltimore but for the Northeast coridor over 30,000 Vehicles cross the Francis Scot Key Bridge on a daily basis it's virtually well it's one of the most import

ant elements for the economy in the Northeast and the quality of life my Transportation secretary is there now as I told governor I've directed my team to move Heaven and Earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible and we're going to work hand inand with the support of Maryland to support Maryland whatever they ask for we're going to work with our partners in Congress to make sure the state gets the support it needs it's my intention that federal government will p

ay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge and I expect to the Congress to support my effort this is going to take some time the people of Baltimore can count count on us though to stick with them at every step of the way till the port is reopened and the bridge is rebuilt you know we're not leaving until this job gets done not leaving till then so I just want to say God bless everybody who uh they want harm this morning and their families and may God bless the First Responders many of

whom risking their lives and uh I'm going to reason I'm not going to take a lot of questions there's remaining issues that are open and we got to determine what's going to happen in terms of the rescue mission and the like but I'll do do you plan to go to Baltimore sir and if so how quickly I do and as quickly as I can that's you said the federal government's also going to pay for the repairs I'm just curious this was a ship that appears to be at fault is there any reason to believe that the co

mpany behind the ship should be held responsible and then also you that could be but we're not going to wait for that happen we're going to pay for it to get the bridge rebuilt and open what did you make of Israel's decision not to attend this meeting this week we oh I don't want to get plenty of time to talk about you mention the port you are watching President Joe Biden leave a news conference on the collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge the big news that he just announced right there is th

at the federal government he wants the federal government to pay for the entire cost of repairing the bridge that you see right there collapsed into the Patapsco River there and he is saying that he hopes that Congress backs him in that effort the problem on these kinds of vessels they are so huge that if you lose power if you lose steerage there is literally nothing you can do I cannot recall of any precedent of where I've seen this happen before I mean this this is really a unique event with t

he bridge collapsing here this morning blocking major shipping lanes in any into the Port of Baltimore all eyeses are on the future of shipping and what that might look like here and in neighboring ports as well absolutely joining us this morning Katie Kate Payne from jll research with how Baltimore Industries can expect to recover and how it is going to impact citizens thank you for joining us first of all just give us a quick overview of what this means for the industry at this point yeah firs

t and foremost you know our thoughts and prayers are go out to the family and Friends impacted by this event but the aftermath of this devastating devastating event could linger for many years as it relates to supply chain issues in the near term as one of the nation's top ports this will have a profound impact on the supply chain uh Baltimore The Vessel traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore is currently suspended until further notice as we know and locally this incident is likely to impac

t Supply chains at all scales from ships getting in and out out of the port to the railways that connect to those ships to get um to get materials out to uh to the country as well as the traffic right that um is not going to be able to cross that bridge so um from deliveries to down to deliveries you know to your doorstep you're likely to see um impacts Kate we are looking live at that ship right there we heard as many as 10,000 containers could be on that vessel right there when we talk about w

hat type of supplies normally go through the uh Port of Baltimore as opposed to some of the larger ports like Norfolk and New York what can we expect what would be in some of those containers there absolutely well Baltimore is actually the number one automobile port in the United States so the port handled nearly 900,000 Auto and light trucks last year more than any other Us Port uh for the 13th straight year and so uh and the reason for that is because of Baltimore's strategic Mid-Atlantic Inla

nd location which is 150 miles further Inland than any other Port so again that connects the Midwest um much easier so we're of course it's still unknown um how this strategy will impact the Auto industry and maybe those prices but um just given the port of Baltimore's prominence there there's likely to be um some issues there but otherwise a lot of things come in and out of the Port of Baltimore whether it's uh sugar uh automobiles or Timber those are some of the things that we uh that go in an

d out every day yeah and when we talk about you mentioned a little bit about how every day baltimoreans and others could see the impact of this how long do you anticipate the atome impacts will last given the the length and the expans of recovery and just cleanup effort that we are likely going to see here it's hard to put a number to that um I think that consumers should expect delays um for an extended period of time given the prominence of the Port of Baltimore and how much um not only Baltim

ore but the region and the nation relies on the Port of Baltimore given its uh significance so again hard to say uh and to put a number to it but um it will be significant Kate in in in times of tragedy we often shed light on things that maybe weren't working correctly we're not sure exactly what happened on that ship we know that there was what appears to be a power outage of Mayday in terms of the future of shipping does this change where we go from here and how things are are moving through o

ur Waters sure again hard to say and um on on what's more to come and that is a great question I think we're focusing now on the rescue efforts and um thinking about those families but I'm sure that that is going to be on top of Mind as the dust settles and we start to evaluate what has happened here okay pain with jll research We Appreciate You weighing in this morning thank you for your time thank you thank you MH after the break Fox 45 News continues to follow what you see right here what is

left of the Francis Scott Key bridge now in the pabco river the search and rescue mission underway for six Who Remain unaccounted for