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By Lea Skene

The Associated Press

BALTIMORE 鈥� A cargo ship lost power and rammed into a major bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday, destroying the span in a matter of seconds and plunging portions of it into the Patapsco River in a terrifying collapse that could disrupt a vital shipping port for months. Six people were missing and presumed dead.

The ship鈥檚 crew issued a Mayday call moments before the crash took down the聽Francis Scott Key聽Bridge, enabling authorities to limit vehicle traffic on the span, Maryland鈥檚 governor said.

The ship聽, causing the structure to collapse like a toy. A section of the span came to rest on the bow of the vessel, which caught fire, and thick, black smoke billowed out of it.

With the ship barreling toward the bridge at 鈥渁 very, very rapid speed,鈥� authorities had just enough time to stop drivers from traveling onto the bridge, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said.

鈥淭hese people are heroes,鈥� Moore said. 鈥淭hey saved lives last night.鈥�

The crash happened just before 1:30 a.m. Eastern Time, long before the busy morning commute on the bridge that stretches 1.6 miles and was used by 12 million vehicles last year.

The six people still unaccounted for were part of a construction crew filling potholes on the bridge, said Paul Wiedefeld, the state鈥檚 transportation secretary.

A senior executive at the company that employed the workers said Tuesday afternoon that they were presumed dead, given the water鈥檚 depth and the length of time since the crash.

Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Brawner Builders, said the crew was working in the middle of the bridge when it came down. No bodies have been recovered, and rescue crews continued the search into the late afternoon.

鈥淭his was so completely unforeseen,鈥� Pritzker said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 know what else to say. We take such great pride in safety, and we have cones and signs and lights and barriers and flaggers. But we never foresaw that the bridge would collapse.鈥�

Jesus Campos, who has worked on the bridge for Brawner Builders and knows members of the crew, said he was told they were on a break and that some were sitting in their trucks when the bridge went down.

鈥淚 know that a month ago, I was there, and I know what it feels like when the trailers pass,鈥� Campos said. 鈥淚magine knowing that is falling. It is so hard; one would not know what to do.鈥�

Rescuers pulled two people out of the water. One person was treated at a hospital and discharged hours later. Multiple vehicles also went into the river, although authorities did not believe any had occupants.

鈥淚t looked like something out of an action movie,鈥� Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said, calling it 鈥渁n unthinkable tragedy.鈥�

A police dispatcher put out a call just before the collapse saying a ship had lost its steering and asked officers to stop all traffic, according to Maryland Transportation Authority first responder radio traffic obtained from the聽Broadcastify.com聽archive.

One officer who stopped traffic radioed that he was going to drive onto the bridge to alert the construction crew. But seconds later, a frantic officer said: 鈥淭he whole bridge just fell down. Start, start whoever, everybody … the whole bridge just collapsed.鈥�

On a separate radio channel for maintenance and construction workers, someone said officers were stopping traffic because a ship had lost steering. There was no follow-up order to evacuate, and 30 seconds later the bridge fell and the channel went silent.

From 1960 to 2015, there were 35聽major bridge collapses聽worldwide due to a ship or barge collision, according to the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure.

The collapse聽is sure to create a logistical nightmare for months, if not years, along the East Coast, shutting down ship traffic at the Port of Baltimore, a major shipping hub. The accident will also snarl cargo and commuter traffic.

鈥淟osing this bridge will devastate the entire area, as well as the entire East Coast,鈥� Maryland state Sen. Johnny Ray Salling said.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, speaking at a news conference near the site, said it was too soon to estimate how long it will take to clear the channel, which is about 50 feet deep.

鈥淚 do not know of a bridge that has been constructed to withstand a direct impact from a vessel of this size,鈥� he said.

Synergy Marine Group 鈥� manager of the ship, called the Dali 鈥� confirmed the vessel hit a bridge pillar while being controlled by one or more pilots, who are local specialists who help guide vessels safely into ports. The ship is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd.

All crew members and the two pilots on board were accounted for, and there were no reports of any injuries, Synergy said.

The ship was moving at 8 knots, or roughly 9 mph, the governor said.

Jagged remnants of the bridge could be seen jutting up from the water鈥檚 surface. The on-ramp ended abruptly where the span once began.

Donald Heinbuch, a retired chief with Baltimore鈥檚 fire department, said he was startled awake by a deep rumbling that shook his house for several seconds.

鈥淚t felt like an earthquake,鈥� he said.

Heinbuch drove to the river鈥檚 edge and couldn鈥檛 believe what he saw.

鈥淭he ship was there, and the bridge was in the water, like it was blown up,鈥� he said.

The 47-year-old bridge, named for聽the writer of 鈥淭he Star-Spangled Banner,鈥� is at the entrance to a busy harbor, which leads to the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. All vessel traffic into and out of the port is suspended until further notice, Wiedefeld said, though the facility is still open to trucks.

President Joe Biden said he planned to travel to Baltimore and intends for the federal government to cover the entire cost of reconstruction.

鈥淭his is going to take some time,鈥� Biden said. 鈥淭he people of Baltimore can count on us, though, to stick with them at every step of the way until the port is reopened and the bridge is rebuilt.鈥�

The Dali was headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, and flying under a Singapore flag, according to data from Marine Traffic. The container ship is about 157 feet by 985 feet, according to the website.

Inspectors found a problem with the Dali鈥檚 machinery in June, but a more recent examination did not identify any deficiencies, according to the shipping information system Equasis.

Danish shipping giant Maersk said it had chartered the vessel.

Last year, the Port of Baltimore handled a record 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo worth $80 billion, according to the state.

The head of a supply chain management company said Americans should expect shortages of goods from the effect of the collapse on ocean container shipping and East Coast trucking.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not just the port of Baltimore that鈥檚 going to be impacted,鈥� said Ryan Petersen, CEO of Flexport.

The collapse, though, is not likely to hurt worldwide trade because Baltimore is not a major port for container vessels, but its facilities are more important when it comes to goods such as farm equipment and autos, said Judah Levine, head of research for global freight booking platform Freightos.

Editor鈥檚 note: Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report. They include Sarah Brumfield, Jake Offenhartz, Joshua Goodman, Ben Finley, Claudia Lauer, Brian Witte, Juliet Linderman, David McHugh, John Seewer, Michael Kunzelman and Mike Catalini.