DUNDALK, Md. — Hours after Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed Tuesday morning, neighbors who live nearby are reacting with shock and disbelief. The Francis Scott Key Bridge is a major commuter route with about 30,000 cars crossing the bridge per day. First built in 1977, it is an iconic part of the Baltimore skyline.
Many neighbors in the Turner Station neighborhood in Dundalk, Maryland -- on the bridge's north side -- heard and felt the bridge collapse early Tuesday morning. One neighbor WUSA9 spoke to said she would never have thought the noise was the bridge coming down.
Venetia Barbie said she has lived in the neighborhood for years with her 87-year-old mother.
"This is a route I've been taking since 1982... Taking this bridge on the night shift for over 30-something years," Barbie said. "I'm just in disbelief. It's [incomprehensible] to even believe the bridge is gone."
Barbie said the fact that the bridge is no longer standing is still settling in.
"This is an everyday [part] of life that people take this bridge back and forth to work or wherever they're traveling to," she said.
The bridge primarily serves people in northern Anne Arundel County crossing to eastern Baltimore County at the east end of Baltimore Harbor. It primarily carries heavy truck traffic that cannot use the two underground tunnels serving the port.
Because so many people use the bridge every day, the collapse feels personal to them. Several neighbors we spoke to shared the sense that it could have been them on the bridge when it came down.
A cargo ship crashed into one of the bridge’s supports, causing the structure to break apart like a toy. It tumbled into the water in a matter of seconds — a shocking spectacle that was captured on video and posted on social media. The vessel caught fire, and thick, black smoke billowed out of it.
“Never would you think that you would see, physically see, the Key Bridge tumble down like that. It looked like something out of an action movie,” said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, calling it “an unthinkable tragedy."
Authorities said at least six construction crew members working on the bridge at the time of the collapse were still unaccounted for and that sonar had detected cars in the water, which is about 50 feet (15 meters) deep. The water temperature was about 47 degrees Fahrenheit (8 degrees Celsius) before dawn Tuesday, according to a buoy that collects data for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
As the sun rose Tuesday, jagged remnants of the bridge were illuminated jutting up from the waters surface. The on-ramp ended abruptly where the span once began.
Gov. Wes Moore declared a state of emergency and said he was working to get federal resources deployed. The FBI was on the scene, but said there was no credible information to suggest terrorism. President Joe Biden was briefed.
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