Aerial
view of
the Dali
cargo
vessel
which
crashed
into the
Francis
Scott
Key
Bridge,
causing
it to
collapse
in
Baltimore,
Maryland,
U.S.,
March
26,
2024.
Maryland
National
Guard/Handout
via
REUTERS |
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A Coast
Guard
helicopter
flies
over the
Maersk
container
ship
Dali and
the
remains
of the
collapsed
Francis
Scott
Key
Bridge.
The
massive
container
ship was
adrift
early
Tuesday
as it
headed
toward
the
iconic
Francis
Scott
Key
Bridge,
losing
power
before
colliding
with a
support
column.
(Jerry
Jackson/Staff) |
|
Baltimore
rescuers
lose
hope for
more
survivors
from
bridge
collapse
By Mike
Segar
and
Gabriella
Borter
BALTIMORE,
March 27
(Reuters)
-
Rescuers
have
lost
hope of
finding
more
survivors
of the
Baltimore
bridge
collapse,
the
coast
guard
said, as
efforts
switched
on
Wednesday
to
looking
for
bodies
of the
missing
and more
answers
to why a
container
ship
smashed
into the
span.
Search
divers
were
expected
to
return
near
dawn to
the
waters
surrounding
the
twisted
ruins of
the
bridge
in
Baltimore
Harbor
to
search
for six
workers
missing
and now
presumed
dead.
The
disaster
has
forced
the
indefinite
closure
of the
Port of
Baltimore,
one of
the
busiest
on the
U.S.
Eastern
Seaboard,
and
created
a
traffic
quagmire
for
Baltimore
and the
surrounding
region.
As the
odds of
their
survival
vanished,
the
search
for the
missing
workers
was
suspended
on
Tuesday
evening,
18 hours
after
they
were
thrown
from the
fallen
Francis
Scott
Key
Bridge
into the
frigid
waters
at the
mouth of
the
Patapsco
River.
"We do
not
believe
that
we're
going to
find any
of these
individuals
alive,"
Coast
Guard
Rear
Admiral
Shannon
Gilreath
said at
a
briefing.
Map: Key
Bridge
location
and
route of
the ship
Maryland
State
Police
and U.S.
Coast
Guard
officials
said
diminished
visibility
and
increasingly
treacherous
currents
in the
wreckage-strewn
channel
made
continued
search
efforts
on the
river
too
risky to
continue
overnight.
Starting
at 6
a.m.
(1000
GMT) on
Wednesday,
"we're
hoping
to put
divers
in the
water
and
begin a
more
detailed
search
to do
our very
best to
recover
those
six
missing
people,"
state
police
Colonel
Roland
Butler
told
reporters
late on
Tuesday.
Rescuers
pulled
two
other
workers
from the
water
alive on
Tuesday,
and one
of them
was
hospitalized.
The six
presumed
to have
perished
included
workers
from
Mexico,
Guatemala
and El
Salvador,
according
to the
Mexican
Consulate
in
Washington.
Officials
said all
eight
were
part of
a work
crew
repairing
potholes
on Key
Bridge's
road
surface
when the
Singapore-flagged
container
vessel
Dali,
leaving
Baltimore
bound
for Sri
Lanka,
plowed
into a
support
pylon of
the
bridge
at about
1:30
a.m.
(0530
GMT).
A
trestled
section
of the
1.6-mile
(2.6 km)
span
almost
immediately
crumpled
into the
water,
sending
vehicles
and
workers
into the
river.
The
948-foot
(289 m)
ship had
reported
a loss
of
propulsion
shortly
before
impact
and
dropped
anchor
to slow
the
vessel,
giving
transportation
authorities
time to
halt
traffic
on the
bridge
before
the
crash.
That
move
likely
prevented
a higher
death
toll,
authorities
said.
It was
unclear
whether
authorities
also
tried to
alert
the work
crew
ahead of
the
impact.
Maryland
Governor
Wes
Moore
said at
a
Tuesday
news
briefing
the
bridge
was up
to code
with no
known
structural
issues.
There
was no
evidence
of foul
play,
officials
said.
SHIP'S
SAFETY
RECORD
The
Baltimore
wreck
drew
attention
to the
vessel's
safety
record.
The same
ship was
involved
in an
incident
in the
port of
Antwerp,
Belgium,
in 2016,
hitting
a quay
as it
tried to
exit the
North
Sea
container
terminal.
An
inspection
in 2023
carried
out in
Chile
found
"propulsion
and
auxiliary
machinery"
deficiencies,
according
to data
on the
public
Equasis
website,
which
provides
information
on
ships.
But
Singapore's
Maritime
and Port
Authority
said in
a
statement
that the
vessel
passed
two
separate
foreign-port
inspections
in June
and
September
2023. It
said a
faulty
fuel
pressure
gauge
was
rectified
before
the
vessel
departed
the port
following
its June
2023
inspection.
Video
footage
on
social
media
showed
the
vessel
slamming
into the
Key
Bridge
in
darkness,
the
headlights
of
vehicles
visible
on the
span as
it
crashed
into the
water
and the
ship
caught
fire.
All 22
crew
members
on the
ship,
owned by
Grace
Ocean
Pte Ltd,
were
accounted
for, its
management
company,
Synergy
Marine
Pte Ltd,
reported.
U.S.
Transportation
Secretary
Pete
Buttigieg
said
closure
of the
port
would
have a
"major
and
protracted
impact
to
supply
chains."
The Port
of
Baltimore
handles
more
automobile
freight
than any
other
U.S.
port -
more
than
750,000
vehicles
in 2022,
according
to port
data, as
well as
container
and bulk
cargo
ranging
from
sugar to
coal.
Still,
economists
and
logistics
experts
said
they
doubted
the port
closure
would
unleash
a major
U.S.
supply
chain
crisis
or major
spike in
the
price of
goods,
due to
ample
capacity
at rival
shipping
hubs
along
the
Eastern
Seaboard.
The loss
of the
bridge
also
snarled
roadways
across
Baltimore,
forcing
motorists
onto two
other
congested
harbor
crossings
and
raising
the
specter
of
nightmarish
daily
commutes
and
regional
traffic
detours
for
months
or even
years to
come.
The
bridge,
named
for the
author
of the
Star-Spangled
Banner,
carries
about
31,000
vehicles
across
the
harbor
daily
and
serves
as the
main
route
for
motorists
between
New York
and
Washington
seeking
to avoid
downtown
Baltimore.
It
opened
in 1977.
President
Joe
Biden
promised
on
Tuesday
to visit
Baltimore,
40 miles
(64 km)
away, as
soon as
possible
and said
he
wanted
the
federal
government
to pay
to
rebuild
the
bridge.
National
Transportation
Safety
Board
chair
Jennifer
Homendy
said a
team of
24
agency
personnel
were on
the
scene to
investigate
the
accident.
She said
Singapore
safety
personnel
would
arrive
in
Baltimore
on
Wednesday.
Tuesday's
disaster
may be
the
worst
U.S.
bridge
collapse
since
2007,
when the
I-35W
bridge
in
Minneapolis
plunged
into the
Mississippi
River,
killing
13
people.
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Reporting
by Mike
Segar in
Baltimore.
Additional
reporting
by
Gabriella
Borter,
Joseph
Campbell,
Andy
Sullivan,
Daniel
Trotta,
Andrea
Shalal,
David
Shephardson,
Steve
Holland,
Christian
Schmollinger,
Rich
McKay,
Shubham
Kalia,
Harshita
Meenaktshi,
Shreya
Biswas,
Jyoti
Narayan,
Kat
Jackson,
Jonathan
Saul and
Jonathan
Allen;
Writing
by Steve
Gorman;
Editing
by
Stephen
Coates
and
Andrew
Heavens.
This
story
will be
updated.
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