Six workers presumed dead after Baltimore bridge collapse
Cargo ship rammed into support column, plunging structure into water
All six workers missing after the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed Tuesday are presumed dead, and the search for them has been suspended until Wednesday morning.
Roland L. Butler Jr., superintendent for Maryland State Police, said in the evening that the search and rescue mission was transitioning to one of search and recovery. He said divers would return to the site at 6 a.m. the following day, when challenging overnight conditions are expected to improve.
A cargo ship lost power and rammed into the bridge early Tuesday, destroying the span in a matter of seconds and plunging it into the river in a terrifying collapse.
The ship’s crew issued a mayday call moments before the crash took down the bridge, enabling authorities to limit vehicle traffic on the span, Maryland’s governor said.
The ship struck one of the bridge’s supports, causing the structure to collapse like a toy. The vessel caught fire, and thick, black smoke billowed out of it. With the ship barrelling toward the bridge at “a very, very rapid speed,” authorities had just enough time to stop cars from coming over the bridge, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said.
“These people are heroes,” Moore said. “They saved lives last night.”
The crash happened in the middle of the night, long before the busy morning commute on the bridge that stretches 2.6 kilometres and was used by 12 million vehicles last year.
The six people still unaccounted for were part of a construction crew filling potholes on the bridge, said Paul Wiedefeld, the state’s transportation secretary.
A senior executive at the company that employed the construction workers said Tuesday afternoon that they were presumed dead, given the water’s depth and the length of time since the crash.
Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Brawner Builders, said the crew was working in the middle of the bridge when it came apart. No bodies have been recovered.
Rescuers pulled two people out of the water. One person was treated at a hospital and discharged hours later. Multiple vehicles also went into the water, although authorities did not believe anyone was inside.
“It looked like something out of an action movie,” said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott.
The collapse is almost sure to create a logistical nightmare for months, if not years, along the East Coast, shutting down ship traffic at the Port of Baltimore, a major shipping hub.
“Losing this bridge will devastate the entire area, as well as the entire East Coast,” Maryland state Sen. Johnny Ray Salling said.
The collapse is almost sure to create a logistical nightmare for months, if not years, along the East Coast