Early Tuesday, the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore unexpectedly collapsed after being struck by a container ship. It’s a situation that’s still developing, as a number of people remain missing.
The breaking news situation happened overnight at 1:27 a.m. ET—a time when news networks’ staffing is either at its lowest or companies are relying on their internal bureaus to monitor news coverage.
Fox News was the first network to report the bridge collapse at 3:52 a.m. ET, with Ashley Strohmier breaking the news during a rerun of Gutfeld!
CNN was next, using CNN International to break the news at 4:00 a.m. ET. Anna Coren reported the news live from Hong Kong.
MSNBC broke the news at 5:01 a.m. ET on Way too Early with Jonathan Lemire, while NewsNation and Scripps News broke the news at 6:00 a.m. ET with Markie Martin and Jay Strubberg, respectively.
On the broadcast news side, CBS News had breaking news coverage on the bridge collapse at 4 a.m. ET on CBS News Mornings with Shannelle Kaul. CBS News also offered special reports at 5, 6 and 6:26 a.m. ET anchored by Tony Dokoupil and CBS Mornings was live for West Coast viewers at 7:00 a.m. PT. The network said Norah O’Donnell will anchor the CBS Evening News from Baltimore at 6:30 p.m. ET.
NBC News provided breaking news coverage of the bridge collapse at 4:01 a.m. ET on Way Too Early with Frances Rivera. In addition, NBC News also provided a special report anchored by Savanna Guthrie at 6:14 a.m. ET. At 7 a.m. PT, it provided a special report for West Coast viewers before reverting to a taped edition of Today at 7:15 a.m. PT. Lester Holt will anchor his evening broadcast from Baltimore and so will Tom Llamas, who will anchor Top Story with Tom Llamas at 7 p.m. ET for NBC News Now.
ABC News delivered special reports with Andrew Dymburt and Rhiannon Ally at 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. ET. Rebecca Jarvis also provided a special report at 6 a.m. ET. ABC News has confirmed that David Muir will also anchor ABC World News Tonight from Baltimore this evening.
The news networks are offering continuous coverage of the bridge collapse as the search and rescue mission continues and new details emerge.