Six people are thought to be dead after a cargo ship collides with a Baltimore bridge.
Baltimore Bridge Collapse — Following a collision with a container ship, a significant Baltimore bridge fell like a house of cards early on Tuesday, crippling one of the busiest ports in the nation and killing six people in the murky waters below.
According to Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon N. Gilreath, by Tuesday night, efforts to find and save the six individuals who were working on the bridge when it fell had turned into a recovery mission.
“We don’t think we’re going to find any of these people still alive,” he stated, citing the temperature of the water and the amount of time that had gone since the ship slammed and collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge at 1:30 in the morning.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore, who expressed hope they would be found, said it was heartbreaking.
“Our heart goes out to the families,” he said after the active search was suspended. “I can’t imagine how painful today has been for these families, how painful these hours have been have been for these families.”
The ship was in another collision.
According to Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace, two persons had previously been pulled out of the water. He claimed that one was well and had declined medical attention. The other was receiving treatment in a trauma clinic after suffering severe injuries.
If the “folks” hadn’t blocked off the bridge and prevented additional cars from crossing after hearing the mayday, Moore claimed that other drivers might have ended up in the water.
Moore declared, “These people are heroes.” “They prevented deaths.”
The bridge was “fully up to code,” according to Moore. It spans the Patapsco River southeast of Baltimore and is around a mile and a half long. It carries Interstate 695.
According to Jennifer Homendy, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, the investigation will be headed by her organization, and additional evidence may be available from the ship’s data recorder.
“But right now we’re focusing on the people, on the families,” she continued. “The rest can wait.”
Federal monies will be sent, and President Joe Biden promised to reconstruct the bridge.
“There will be a delay,” the president admonished. “The people of Baltimore can count on us though to stick with them, at every step of the way, till the port is reopened and the bridge is rebuilt.”
Pete Buttigieg, the secretary of transportation, repeated the president’s vow while speaking in Baltimore.
Saying, “This is no ordinary bridge,” he explained. “This is one of the cathedrals of American infrastructure.”
However, Buttigieg issued a warning, pointing out that supply chains may be impacted and that it will require time and money to replace the bridge and restore the port.
Based on data from the Maryland Port Administration, the Port of Baltimore, which ranks 11th in size in the United States, is the busiest port for car imports and exports, handling over 750,000 vehicles in 2023 alone.
Timeline of the collision
The moment that the Dali struck a pillar and sent the bridge falling into the lake on Tuesday at 1:28 a.m. was captured on dramatic video. Just prior to the walkout, vehicles and trucks were visible on the bridge on a webcast. The ship’s lights stayed on and it did not sink.
The Dali’s lights abruptly turned off four minutes before they turned back on, according to an investigator’s chronology. At 1:25 a.m., dense, black smoke started to billow from the ship’s chimney.
At 1:26 a.m., a minute later, the ship seemed to turn. And the lights flickered once again in the minutes before it crashed into the support.
Search and rescue operations come to a conclusion.
At 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the Coast Guard announced that it was stopping the active search and rescue operation.
At a press conference, Gilreath declared, “Coast Guard is not going away, and neither are any of our partners; we’re just going to transition into a different phase.”
Superintendent Roland L. Butler, Jr. of the Maryland State Police announced that it was transitioning to a recovery effort. Divers now face danger due to shifting conditions, he claimed.
Butler promised that they will “do our very best to recover those six missing people,” but the going gets tough.
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