A massive cargo ship leaving the port of Baltimore lost power and issued a distress call shortly before striking a major bridge on Tuesday morning (26), giving authorities a brief chance to stop cars and attempt to evacuate the span before it fell into the river.
On Tuesday morning, six construction workers who were repairing potholes on the Francis Scott Key Bridge remained missing as divers and rescuers continued to search for them. Two other workers were rescued alive from the site.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore described the incident as a terrible accident. “We have seen no credible evidence of a terrorist attack,” he said. The bridge is part of Interstate 695.
Initially, authorities feared that drivers were submerged in their cars in the Patapsco River. But the warning from the Dali, a Singapore-flagged ship, gave authorities enough time to halt traffic at both ends of the bridge, according to various federal and Maryland officials.
Those who blocked traffic “undoubtedly saved lives,” President Biden said from the White House on Tuesday. He added that the Coast Guard would continue search and rescue efforts and that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would clear the channel to help reopen Baltimore to ship traffic. “We will rebuild this port together,” he said.
Here’s a summary of what happened and what is known so far about the accident:
– The Dali, a 948-foot cargo ship, struck a pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge around 1:30 a.m., according to the ship’s owners. All crew members, including two harbor pilots who were navigating the ship at the time of the accident, were found uninjured. The Dali left Baltimore at 1 a.m. and was headed to Colombo, Sri Lanka, according to MarineTraffic, a maritime data platform.
– Despite the ship’s distress call before hitting the bridge, the bridge repair crew remained on it, with their vehicles parked on the span that collapsed, authorities said. One of the two rescued workers was in the hospital until Tuesday afternoon.
– An inspection of the Dali last year at a port in Chile reported that the vessel had a deficiency related to “propulsion and auxiliary machinery.” The inspection, conducted on June 27 at the port of San Antonio, specified that the deficiency concerned gauges and thermometers. A spokesperson for the owners of the Dali declined to comment on the matter.
– The bridge is named after Francis Scott Key, the author of the American national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” who was born in Maryland. The structure was opened in 1977. About 30,000 vehicles pass over it every day, Maryland officials said.
– President Biden expressed hope that the federal government would cover “the entire cost” of the bridge’s reconstruction and urged Congress to support efforts to fund repairs. It is difficult to estimate how long it will take to rebuild the bridge.
Source: The New York Times and CNN