SIX people are feared to have been killed by the collapsed Baltimore bridge, authorities said today.

A massive cargo ship, the Dali, lost its steering capabilities early on Tuesday morning and smashed into a support pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge that crosses the Patapsco River carrying the busy Interstate 695.

The collision caused a long span of the bridge to crumple into the river, sending at least eight people plummeting into the water. Some vehicles appeared to have escaped the disaster with just seconds to spare.

Two people were rescued but the other six, part of a construction crew that had been filling potholes on the bridge, are missing and presumed dead. 

A search for their bodies was still taking place on Wednesday, according to Maryland State Police spokeswoman Elena Russo.

Among the missing were people from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, according to diplomats from those countries. The Honduran man was identified as Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandova.

Jeffrey Pritzker, the executive vice-president of Brawner Builders, the company that employed the crew, said they were working in the middle of the bridge when it fell.

He said: “This was so completely unforeseen.

“We don’t know what else to say.”

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating and ship traffic entering and leaving the Port of Baltimore was suspended indefinitely.