Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early Tuesday after a cargo ship traveling in darkness rammed into the bridge at about 1:30 a.m.
The Washington Post reported that eight people from a construction crew fell from the bridge into the Patapsco River below. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore declared a state of emergency.
There were 35 major bridge collapses due to a ship or barge collision worldwide from 1960 to 2015, killing 342 people, per a 2018 report from the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure.
Eighteen of those 35 collapses occurred in the United States.
Below is a list of some of the notable disasters involving ships or barges hitting bridges in the United States:
Eggner’s Ferry Bridge (2012, Kentucky)
A cargo ship carrying space rocket equipment allided with the Eggner’s Ferry Bridge on Jan. 26, 2012 in Kentucky, destroying a span of the bridge roughly the length of a football field. No injuries were reported.
The National Transportation Safety Board attributed the crash to “poor bridge span lighting” and the ship crew’s “inattention to available navigational tools.”
Popp’s Ferry Bridge (2009, Mississippi)
A 150-foot section of the Popp’s Ferry Bridge in Biloxi, Mississippi, crumbled into the bay on March 20, 2009, after a towing vessel pushing eight barges rammed into the bridge.
I-40 Bridge (2002, Oklahoma, 14 killed)
Fourteen people were killed and 11 more were injured when a section of the I-40 bridge near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, collapsed over the Arkansas River after a towboat crashed into the bridge’s pier support on May 26, 2002.
The towboat’s captain was short on sleep and lost consciousness before the accident, CBS News reported.
Queen Isabella Causeway (2001, Texas, 8 killed)
A tugboat and barge hit one of the Queen Isabella Causeway’s support columns on Sept. 15, 2001, in Port Isabel, Texas, creating a 160-foot gap in the road above the water. Eight people were killed after motorists drove into the hole and fell about 80 feet into the water.
Eads Bridge (1998, St. Louis, 50 injured)
Fifty people were injured after the Anne Holly tow crashed into the center span of the Eads Bridge in the St. Louis Harbor on April 14, 1998. Eight barges broke away, with three of them hitting a permanently moored gambling vessel below the bridge.
Big Bayou Canot (1993, Alabama, 47 killed)
The deadliest train wreck in Amtrak’s history and Alabama railway history occurred in 1993 after a train carrying 220 people across the Big Bayou Canot railroad bridge near Mobile on Sept. 22 derailed, killing 47 and injuring 103.
Minutes earlier, a towboat pushing barges through a dense fog collided with the bridge, which altered its alignment and kinked the railway track.
Seeber Bridge (1993, New Orleans, 1 killed)
A four-lane bridge deck of the Judge William Seeber Bridge in New Orleans fell into a canal after a towboat pushing an empty hopper barge crashed into one of the bridge’s support tiers on May 28, 1993. One person was killed and two people were injured.
Sunshine Skyway Bridge (1980, Florida, 35 killed)
Thirty-five people died after winds from a morning storm on May 9, 1980, blew a freighter into a support beam on the Skyway Bridge in Tampa Bay, Florida, sending a section of the road over 1,000 feet long into the water 150 feet below.