Lea Skene, Associated Press
Published Tuesday, March 26, 2024 5:25 amEDT
Last updated Tuesday, March 26, 2024 11:07 pmEDT
BALTIMORE (AP) – A freighter lost power and crashed into a major bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday, destroying the span in seconds and plunging it into the river in a terrifying collapse that could disrupt a vital seaport for months. . Six people were missing and presumed dead, and the search for them was suspended until Wednesday morning.
The ship’s crew issued a mayday call moments before the accident brought down the Francis Scott Key Bridge, allowing authorities to limit vehicle traffic on the span, Maryland’s governor said.
As the ship approached the bridge, puffs of black smoke could be seen as the lights flickered on and off. It hit one of the bridge supports, causing the structure to collapse like a toy, and a section of the span was resting on the bow.
As the ship moved toward the bridge at “a very, very fast speed,” authorities had just enough time to stop cars from crossing the bridge, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said.
“These people are heroes,” Moore said. “Last night they saved lives.”
In the evening, Colonel Roland L. Butler Jr., superintendent of the Maryland State Police, announced that the search and rescue mission was transitioning to one of search and recovery. He also said the search was on pause and divers would return to the site at 6am on Wednesday, when difficult overnight conditions were expected to improve. No bodies have been recovered, Butler said.
The accident occurred in the middle of the night, well before the busy morning commute over the bridge that spans 2.6 kilometers (1.6 miles) and was used by 12 million vehicles last year.
The six missing people were part of a construction crew filling potholes on the bridge, said Paul Wiedefeld, the state’s transportation secretary.
The Guatemalan consulate in Maryland said in a statement that two of the missing were citizens of the Central American nation. He did not provide their names, but said consular officials were in contact with authorities and assisting the families.
Honduran Deputy Foreign Minister Antonio García told The Associated Press that a Honduran citizen, Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, was missing. He said he had been in contact with Suazo’s family.
And the Mexican Consulate in Washington said through the social media platform He didn’t say how many.
A senior executive at the company that employed the workers also said in the afternoon that the workers were presumed dead given the depth of the water and the time elapsed.
Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Brawner Builders, said the crew was working in the middle of the bridge when it collapsed.
“This was completely unforeseen,” Pritzker said. “We don’t know what else to say. “We take great pride in safety and have cones, signs, lights, barriers and flaggers.”
Jesus Campos, who worked on the bridge for Brawner Builders and knows the crew members, said they told him they were on a break and that some were sitting in their trucks.
“I know I was there a month ago and I know what it feels like when the trailers go by,” Campos said. “Imagine knowing that you are falling. It is very difficult. “You wouldn’t know what to do.”
Father Ako Walker, a Catholic priest of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, said he spent time with the families of the missing workers as they waited for news of their loved ones.
“You can see the pain etched on their faces,” Walker said.
Rescuers pulled two people out of the water, one of whom was treated at a hospital and released hours later. Several vehicles also fell into the river, although authorities did not believe anyone was inside.
“It was like something out of an action movie,” said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, calling it “an unthinkable tragedy.”
A police dispatcher made a call just before the collapse saying that a boat had lost its direction and asked officers to stop all traffic on the bridge, according to Maryland Transportation Authority first responder radio traffic obtained. from the Broadcastify.com archive.
A traffic stop officer radioed that he was going to drive to the bridge to alert the construction crew. But seconds later, a frantic officer said: “The whole bridge just fell down. “Start, whoever starts, everyone… the whole bridge just collapsed.”
On a separate radio channel for maintenance and construction workers, someone said officers were stopping traffic because a boat had lost its way. There was no evacuation order and 30 seconds later the bridge fell and the canal fell silent.
Between 1960 and 2015, there were 35 major bridge collapses worldwide due to ship or barge collisions, according to the Global Water Transportation Infrastructure Partnership.
Tuesday’s collapse is sure to create a logistical nightmare along the East Coast for months, if not years, shutting down ship traffic at the port of Baltimore, a major hub. The loss of the bridge will also hamper freight and passenger traffic.
“The loss of this bridge will devastate the entire area, as well as the entire East Coast,” said State Senator Johnny Ray Salling.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said at a news conference that it was too early to estimate how long it will take to clean the canal, which is about 50 feet (15 meters) deep.
“I don’t know of any bridge that has been built to withstand a direct hit from a ship of this size,” he said.
The Dali, which was headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka and flying under the flag of Singapore, measures about 985 feet (300 meters) long and about 157 feet (48 meters) wide, according to data from Marine Traffic.
Synergy Marine Group, which manages the ship, confirmed that it hit a bridge pillar at around 1:30 a.m. while under the control of one or more pilots, who are local specialists who help guide ships into and out of ports safely. The ship is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd.
Synergy said all crew members and the two pilots on board were accounted for and there were no reports of injuries.
The ship was moving at 8 knots, about 9 mph (14.8 kph), the governor said.
Inspectors discovered a problem in the Dali’s machinery in June, but a more recent examination found no deficiencies, according to the Equasis shipping information system.
Danish shipping giant Maersk said it had chartered the ship.
Jagged remains of the bridge could be seen sticking out of the water after the collapse. The on-ramp ended abruptly where the stretch once began.
Donald Heinbuch, retired chief of the Baltimore Fire Department, said he was startled awake by a loud bang that shook his house for several seconds and “felt like an earthquake.” He drove to the river bank and couldn’t believe what he saw.
“The ship was there and the bridge was in the water, like it had blown up,” he said.
The bridge crosses the Patapsco River at the entrance to the busy port, leading to the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Opened in 1977, the bridge is named after the writer of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Wiedefeld said all vessel traffic to and from the port would be suspended until further notice, although the facility was still open to trucks.
President Joe Biden said he planned to travel to Baltimore and intends to have the federal government pick up the entire cost of rebuilding.
“This will take some time,” Biden said.
Last year, the Port of Baltimore handled a record 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo worth $80 billion, according to the state.
The head of a supply chain management company said Americans should expect a shortage of goods due to the effect of the collapse on container shipping and trucking on the East Coast.
“It’s not just the Port of Baltimore that will be affected,” said Ryan Petersen, CEO of Flexport.
However, the collapse is not likely to hurt global trade because Baltimore is not a major port for container ships. Its facilities are most important when it comes to goods like farm equipment and cars, said Judah Levine, head of research at global freight booking platform Freightos.
—
Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report, including Sarah Brumfield, Rebecca Santana, Jake Offenhartz, Joshua Goodman, Ben Finley, Claudia Lauer, Brian Witte, Juliet Linderman, David McHugh, John Seewer, Michael Kunzelman and Mike Catalini.