Authorities in Baltimore announced on Tuesday evening the suspension of searches for six people who went missing after a bridge collapsed in the American city as a result of a container tanker colliding with it, noting that the six missing people are now considered dead.
Coast Guard official Vice Admiral Shannon Gilreath said during a press conference, “Based on how long the searches took… and the temperature of the water, we now do not believe we will find these individuals alive.”
Since the collapse of the important Francis Scott Key traffic bridge in Baltimore on the east coast of the United States, authorities have used drones, helicopters and divers, allowing the discovery of two survivors, one of whom is seriously injured.
Gilreath explained Tuesday evening that in the face of difficult conditions, “high tides and currents that make the work of divers risky…we will suspend the active search phase.”
Another official added, “We will simply move to a new phase” of relief, explaining that divers will be on site as of Wednesday morning.
It is likely that the six missing workers were working on the bridge, as a Public Works Company official told local media that six of them were considered dead.
Paul Wiedefeld, Maryland’s transportation official, confirmed that they were primarily working to “repair potholes” and that their work was “unrelated to a structural problem.”
Among the eight people who were initially declared missing were two citizens of Guatemala, according to what the authorities of the Central American country announced.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott spoke of an “unimaginable tragedy,” and police said they had tentatively ruled out an act of terrorism.
It was launched in 1977
The ship’s crew had informed the authorities prior to the accident of a technical problem that caused the ship to “temporarily lose momentum,” according to Maryland Governor Wes Moore, which allowed part of traffic on the bridge to be stopped and lives saved.
Surveillance camera recordings showed a container carrier colliding with one of the pillars of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which was inaugurated in 1977, causing several arches of the bridge to collapse into the river.
The recordings show lights of maintenance mechanisms on the bridge, before it disintegrates and parts collapse into the water around 1:30 local time (5:30 GMT).
The crew, who was unharmed, tried to slow the ship’s course by dropping anchor, but failed to avoid collision.
Jennifer Wolfe almost lost her 20-year-old son in the accident, as he took the bridge just three minutes before the disaster. The forty-year-old woman recounted that “he returned home terrified, crying and shaking, so I started crying with him.”
The US President pledged to rebuild the bridge as soon as possible, acknowledging that this “will take time.” He added, “I told them that we will send them all the federal resources they need.”
Primary axis
This four-lane bridge spanned 2.6 kilometers southwest of Baltimore, a major industrial and coastal city in Maryland about 60 kilometers southeast of Washington.
It is a major north-south transportation and economic hub on the East Coast of the United States. It bears the name of Francis Scott Key, who wrote the words of the American national anthem.
Maritime navigation in the Port of Baltimore, which is one of the busiest ports in the United States, was suspended “until further notice,” according to the authorities.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg warned of a “significant and long-term impact on supply chains.”
The MV Dali ship, a modern container carrier flying the Singapore flag, 300 meters long and 48 meters wide, was sailing towards Sri Lanka.
The large Danish shipping group, Maersk, announced that it had chartered the ship operated by the Synergy Marine Group.
The Port of Singapore Administration announced on Wednesday that it had undergone two successful inspections in 2023, and that the fuel pressure monitoring gauge was repaired in June.
In 2023, the Chilean port authorities reported a defect in the ship’s equipment, which was quickly repaired by the ship’s owner, according to the Chilean Navy.
The Port of Baltimore handles more car shipments than any other American port, as port data shows that more than 750,000 vehicles passed through it in 2022, in addition to shipping containers and bulk goods ranging from commodities such as sugar to coal.
However, economists and logistics experts said they doubted that closing the port would cause a major crisis in US supply chains or a significant rise in commodity prices because competing shipping hubs along the country’s east coast have significant capacity.
On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden promised to visit Baltimore as soon as possible, and said that he wanted the federal government to pay for the reconstruction of the bridge.
The head of the Transportation Safety Board said that a 24-member team was at the accident site to conduct an investigation.
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