Part of Baltimore bridge collapses after being struck by ship | WATCH LIVE: Authorities say Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge has partially collapsed after it was hit by a large cargo ship early Tuesday. | By CBS News | Unbelievable. So, now, looking at this video where you see the ship hit one of the columns and then the bridge just collapsed into the water. Um what we've been learning over the past couple of hours as we've been speaking with some of the officials there is that as of now, they're searching for about 20 people potentially. This is according to the Baltimore City Fire Chief in some interviews from earlier this morning. Again, this happened around 130 or so AM. Darkness is making this search that much more difficult. They are saying you see it just how black it is in that that scene there. Uh again, so a large ship we are learning hit a column there. The bridge collapsed. No word on the cause or exactly what happened in this situation. That's something that's being investigated. This is being referred to as a mass casualty response although no word right now on if there are any injuries or or any fatalities. Yeah. Right and we're looking here. We should note at live pictures of the scene. A very fluid operation. Jared you walk us through the search and rescue operation this hour, what's happening on the ground? Yes, so we do know that there are some dive teams that have been dispatched to this region. Again, because this is in the middle of a river there in Baltimore that crosses the harbor in in the Baltimore area and so we know that there are multiple agencies as you can see. A lot of the flashing lights but again, the fact that this is so dark and that this is happening in the water is making a lot of this that much more difficult, that much more harrowing of a of a search. And what about the number of people who we now know might be scene. Right. So, at the first check, we had heard numbers somewhere around seven. The latest numbers we're hearing potentially double that around 20 or so people. We do know again that there were there was little traffic on the bridge. This is 130 in the morning on on a Tuesday and so not a ton of people were there but there was at least this tractor trailer and potentially some other vehicles we are hearing reports of multiple vehicles having fallen into the water at the time of this bridge collapsed and so again, we're waiting for more information likely waiting for daylight as these crews are able to just get a better feel for exactly what they're dealing with. And we can see lights and sirens in these live images of the scene from Baltimore this hour. Jerry, you mentioned it's a multi agency response to the incident. What does that mean? Who's involved here? Yes, so we do know that there is Baltimore City Fire Department is involved with this. Uh there's also been some conversation with Coast Guards seeing as how this is happening again in in in a waterway. Air. Uh we also know that the Baltimore City mayor as well as the county executive for the county of Baltimore has been have been in contact. They're both on their way there. We also know that the governor of Maryland has been contacted regarding this as well and then you gotta remember that this is a a a bridge that is used by a lot of people to get not only around the Baltimore area but there are some pretty major airports in the area and so the the Baltimore, Washington International Airport has been telling people use alternate routes if they need to get to the airport this morning. Uh and so this could cause some pretty significant headaches for folks in that area as well. Yeah, I want to ask more about the area where this happened because my understanding is it serves as sort of an essential link of Interstate six ninety-five. So, what's happening in the surrounding boroughs? Yes, so this is again, this is a key a key bridge that is utilized by people in this area around Baltimore. It's not the only bridge that's there. So, it's not a situation where, you know, people are completely cut off but this will definitely make a cute a commute more difficult. There, this is also a relatively as you can see here, this is not over top of a highway. It's not in the middle of the city but this is a bridge that is utilized by a lot of folks in the Baltimore area on a consistent basis. Okay, Jared Hill, thank you for this information. We appreciate this. Of course. Let's go live now to our Nicole Scanga who's live on the ground. Uh Nicole, I know you just got there moments ago but walk us through what you're seeing and hearing there. Yeah, Chanella mass casualty event, a multi agency rescue and recovery now underway. Just the harrowing scene. The Baltimore Fire Department chief saying up to 20 people plunged into the water when an outbound cargo ship collided with a main support beam of the Francis Scott Key Bridge here in Baltimore and multiple vehicles in the water as well including a tractor trailer and a bus car. There is just a massive effort underway by first responders, federal, state, local law enforcement including dive teams that have been deployed. The US Coast Guard, state, and local police, the Maryland Transportation Authority, a top priority right now. Of course, those rescue and recovery efforts but we should point out that this is a major thoroughfare and a 950 foot cargo ship flagged in Singapore now sitting in the port of Baltimore. This partial collapsed stalling a one. five Mile Bridge. Responsible for transporting approximately eleven 5 million vehicles every day along that I ninety-five corridor connecting Florida up to Maine. And Nicole, you know, it's really hard to see in our live shot right now because it is still dark this hour. Can you tell us what you're seeing on the ground? Yeah, we are currently in the media staging area and everything is cloaked with darkness but we do see first responders. We see vehicles of state and local police but again, very difficult to make out the scene just sirens, you know, piercing through the darkness here at the Port of Baltimore. And the darkness must also make this a challenge for those rescue workers who are on scene. Can you talk a bit about the response? Yeah, we know that right now US Coast Guard dive teams as well as personnel from Baltimore Fire Department are in the water. They are searching for up to 20 individuals as well as a number of vehicles that again were plunged into the water during collision happening at approximately 1: 30 AM this morning. Um and so really these rescue and recovery efforts are ongoing. Uh that count has changed as the morning has sort of kicked on. Initially we were hearing from law enforcement as many as seven people. That number has been gone up. So law enforcement and the fire department here trying to get a handle of just how many individuals impacted. Obviously a mass tragedy perhaps a silver that this did not occur during rush hour. Of course, happening at 1: 30 AM when there was limited traffic here on the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Okay, Nicole Skanga, thanks so much for this reporting. We appreciate it. Thank you. And again, a major portion of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore has collapsed overnight after being hit by a cargo ship. You were looking at live images there. CBS News will stay on this story. Our coverage continues now on CBS News Streaming. This has been a C News special report. I'm Chanel Kahl, CBS News, New York.