UPDATE: 5:30 p.m., 3/26/24

President Joe Biden said Tuesday afternoon that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of repairing and rebuilding the Key Bridge, which collapsed into the Patapsco River after a cargo ship rammed into a support beam just before 1:30 a.m. Video of the collision shows the bridge immediately crumbling into the water below.

Gov. Wes Moore said the ship’s crew sent a distress call before the collision indicating that the vessel had lost power. The ship is owned by a company in Singapore, was traveling at 8 knots, Moore said, about 9 mph. He said there is no credible evidence that the collision was part of a terrorist attack and that the bridge was “up to code.”

In June, inspectors found problems with the cargo ship’s “propulsion and auxiliary machinery,” but the issues were not severe enough to keep the ship sidelines. The ship, called Dali, was also previously involved in a collision in a port in Belgium in 2016, the Guardian reports.

Maryland Secretary of Transportation Paul Wiedefeld said during a news conference Tuesday morning that rescue crews were searching for six people who were part of a construction team filling potholes on the bridge when it collapsed. Rescue crews had already saved two people from the water by the time Wiedefeld provided an update. The six remaining people are presumed dead, according to the Associated Press, given the depth of the water and the length of time they have been missing.

Multiple vehicles also fell into the water, but authorities do not believe anyone was inside them, the AP reports.

Original story follows:

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed into the Patapsco River early Tuesday morning after a cargo ship collided with a support beam, according to the Baltimore City Fire Department. A fire department spokesperson said the collision occurred around 1:30 a.m. and that several people were likely on the bridge when it collapsed. Rescue efforts are underway. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has declared a state of emergency.

Officials have given various estimates for the number of people they’re potentially searching for, from seven to “up to 20.” Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said first responders are “very much in an active search and rescue posture at this point,” and acknowledged that the figure could fluctuate. The Washington Post reported that emergency responders have rescued two people from the water, one of whom was in very serious condition; the other was unharmed.

There were 22 crew members aboard the cargo ship, Dali, which is registered in Singapore, according to the Post.