The Francis Scott Key Bridge fell into the waters of the Patapsco River after a Singapore-flagged container ship named Dali collided with a support column around 05:30 UTC, 1:30 a.m. local time, Tuesday.

Pilots of the cargo ship that crashed into a major bridge in the U.S. city of Baltimore, Maryland, issued a mayday call shortly before the structure collapsed into a river, enabling authorities to save lives, according to the state’s governor.

"We can confirm that the crew notified authorities of a power issue," Maryland Governor Wes Moore told reporters Tuesday morning, hours after the incident. Moore said the Singapore-flagged container ship Dali had no power before smashing into one of two main columns supporting the Francis Scott Key Bridge and causing the bridge to collapse.

Moore said the crew’s warning enabled transportation officials to quickly halt traffic along the interstate highway crossing over the bridge. "These people are heroes. They saved lives last night," the governor said. The ship’s crew also dropped its anchors in a futile attempt to avert the disaster.

Two of the workers were rescued, with one transported to a trauma center in serious condition, while the other was uninjured. Searchers were continuing to look for the other six, with divers facing bone-chilling water temperatures of about 9 degrees Celsius (48 Fahrenheit).

Video showed a large section of the bridge quickly collapsing into the river after the Dali collided with the support column. The vessel is 48 meters (157 feet) wide and 300 meters (984 feet) long and was loaded with cargo containers setting sail for Sri Lanka.

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