Timelapse video captures chain of events that led to Baltimore bridge collapse

A video showing a timelapse of moments before the Baltimore bridge collapse has been circulating online.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was hit by a cargo ship in the early hours of Tuesday morning (March 26) which has since been declared a "mass casualty event".

Two people were rescued from the water while six male construction workers remain unaccounted for and the search has since been called off by the coast guard due to the cold water of the Patapsco River and the amount of time that has passed since the tragedy occurred.

The bridge - which cost $110 million to build - is 1.6 miles long and opened in 1977.

Just 30 minutes into its 27-day journey to Sri Lanka, the Dali cargo vessel hit one of the bridge's pillars while travelling at eight knots and caused the structure to collapse into the water within seconds.

This moment was captured on CCTV, where smoke could be seen coming out of the ship as the freighter lost power.

At 1.23am, the video begins with the cargo ship's lights turning off only a minute later. This was somewhat remedied when some of the ship's lights turned back on, however thick smoke then appeared.

Power was lost on the ship for a second time at 1.26am, and as the lights came back on once more the vessel crashed into the bridge causing the structure to crumble into the water.

A call was issued just before the crash when the ship initially lost power, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said, and while these were a quick turn of events, this call meant that police were able to stop traffic travelling towards the bridge, Reuters reported.

"By being able to stop cars from coming over the bridge, these people are heroes. They saved lives," Moore said during a press conference.

Moore also noted the impact this tragedy has had on the local community where the bridge has been standing for nearly five decades.

"The words that the Key bridge are gone - it still shakes us because for 47 years, [the bridge] is all we've known," he added.

"This is not just unprecedented for what we're seeing and what we're looking at today, it's heartbreaking."

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.