Baltimore — Early on Tuesday morning, a cargo ship in Baltimore lost power and crashed into a large bridge, demolishing it in a matter of seconds and sending it tumbling into the river in a horrifying collapse that might cause months’ worth of disruptions to a crucial shipping port. The hunt for the six missing persons, who were thought to be dead, was put on hold until Wednesday morning.
The governor of Maryland stated that just before the collision destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge, the ship’s crew issued a mayday call, allowing officials to restrict car traffic across the span.
Puffs of black smoke billowed from the ship as the lights flickered on and off closer to the bridge. A portion of the span came to rest on the bow when it struck one of the bridge’s supports, bringing the structure down like a doll.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore stated that with the ship speeding toward the bridge at “a very, very rapid speed,” authorities had just enough time to prevent cars from crossing the bridge.
Moore declared, “These people are heroes.” “They prevented deaths last night.”
Col. Roland L. Butler Jr., superintendent of the Maryland State Police, declared in the evening that the goal would now be search and recovery instead of search and rescue. Additionally, he indicated that the search was being halted and that divers will visit the location again at six a.m. on Wednesday, when it was anticipated that the difficult overnight circumstances would improve. Butler stated there had been no retrieved bodies.
The 1.6-mile (2.6-kilometer) bridge was utilized by 12 million cars last year, and the collision occurred in the middle of the night, well before the congested morning rush hour.
Paul Wiedefeld, the state secretary of transportation, stated that the six individuals who went missing were a part of a construction team that was patching potholes on the bridge.
Two of the missing were citizens of Guatemala, the Central American country, according to a statement from the consulate in Maryland. It stated that consular staff were helping the families and were in communication with the authorities, but it did not provide their names.