Six people are thought to be dead after a ship crashes into the Baltimore bridge.

Following the impact of a cargo ship, the iconic Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, collapsed, leaving six people missing and feared dead.

The Coast Guard declared that it had stopped looking and started working on recovery.

After the ship struck a support, the more than 2.6 km (1.6 mi) long bridge was completely demolished.

Just before the collapse, the ship reportedly experienced a “power issue” and sent out a distress call, according to officials.

Helicopters and boats were used in the massive search and rescue operation for the six missing individuals. One of the two people who were rescued from the water was seriously injured.

The US Coast Guard’s Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath declared in the evening that the remaining guys were thought to be dead due to the water’s temperature and the duration of their submersion.

When the bridge broke, according to the authorities, they were working as a part of a construction crew filling potholes.

Now, attention is shifting to the inquiry into what went wrong, with a group of specialists in transportation safety aiming to board the affected ship and retrieve its data recorder.

When the 47-year-old bridge was struck by a support column at 01:30 (05:30 GMT), the container ship Dali, flying the flag of Singapore, came down.

collapse of the Baltimore Key Bridge: get real-time updates

It had left the Port Breeze terminal at about 00:45, headed for Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka.

The ship “lost propulsion” while it was leaving the port, according to a US federal government agency.

According to a report on the incident from the Federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the crew then alerted Maryland transport officials to the possibility of a crash.

Wes Moore, the governor of Maryland, confirmed that “the crew notified authorities of a power issue” and indicated that the ship had lost power prior to colliding with a bridge support column.

According to officials, several cars, including “one the size of a tractor-trailer,” fell into the lake below.

The US Coast Guard, the Baltimore Fire Department, and other Maryland-based organizations have also contributed to the rescue effort.

Two persons had been recovered, according to Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace, and one of them had been “transported to a local trauma center… in a very serious condition.”

According to Mr. Wallace, the tide was making rescue operations more difficult. With air temperatures around the bridge hovering around 3C (37.4F), local officials stated that the freezing conditions posed a significant threat to rescue personnel.

The incident was called a “unthinkable tragedy” by Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, who also stated that the only topic of discussion at this time should be “the people, the lives, the souls… there are people in the water that we have to get out and that’s the only thing we should be talking about.”

According to Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld, engineers were on the scene assessing the collapse’s structural effects.

There were 22 individuals on board, including two Baltimore residents working as port pilots and an all-Indian crew, according to shipping company Synergy Marine Group, which told the BBC there had been no reports of injuries.

Those with local expertise who board ships and assist in maneuvering them into and out of ports are known as pilots.

In a statement, the firm stated that it was “fully co-operating” with government agencies and that the precise reason of the incident was still unknown.

The shipping behemoth Maersk announced that it had rented the ship and was transporting cargo for its clients.

“We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected,” the statement read. There were no Maersk employees or crew members on the ship.

US President Joe Biden declared that search and rescue operations have to take precedence and that he will visit Baltimore as soon as feasible.

“I’ve directed my team to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible,” he stated.

He claimed that the collapse was an accident and that the federal government would “pay for the entire cost of that bridge”; however, he noted that congressional approval would be required before any money could be spent.