Baltimore’s Key Bridge collapse brings back memories of Sunshine Skyway Bridge tragedy
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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A major bridge collapsing in Baltimore reminds many Floridians of a similar disaster that happened decades ago in the Tampa Bay area.
Early Tuesday morning, Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge snapped and plunged into the river after a container ship rammed into the major bridge.
Read the latest about the Baltimore bridge collapse
The Associated Press reported that the cargo ship appeared to have crashed into one of the bridge’s supports during the middle of the night.
“Never would you think that you would see, physically see, the Key Bridge tumble down like that. It looked like something out of an action movie,” said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, calling it “an unthinkable tragedy.”
The disaster brings back memories of a similar incident that happened in Tampa Bay almost 44 years ago.
On May 9, 1980, 35 people were killed when a 19,734-ton Summit Venture freighter ship slammed into the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.
Most of the people killed were aboard a Greyhound bus that fell 150 feet into Tampa Bay. Only one person survived – a man named Wesley MacIntire. His truck fell onto the freighter’s deck before hitting the water below.
The bridge was demolished and the new Sunshine Skyway Bridge was finished in 1987.
A car is halted at the edge of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge across Tampa Bay, Fla., after the freighter Summit Venture struck the bridge during a thunderstorm and tore away a large part of the span, May 1980. At least 31 persons were killed, 23 of them aboard a bus that toppled into the water. (AP Photo/Jackie Green)
There is a Sunshine Skyway Collapse Memorial with the names of the 35 victims sitting along the edge of Tampa Bay near the southern end of the rest area.
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