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The US Coast Guard assumes that all those missing are dead after the highway bridge collapsed in Baltimore.
What happened? On Tuesday night, a huge container ship rammed one of the pillars of a highway bridge in Baltimore, Maryland. The ship’s crew had made an emergency call before the collision, which may have saved lives – because officers on land stopped traffic and prevented more cars from getting onto the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Nevertheless, large parts of the bridge collapsed as steel girders weighing tons were bent like thin wire by the enormous force, and people and cars were dragged into the depths.
How many people were on the bridge? According to the Maryland Secretary of Transportation, there were eight construction workers on the bridge repairing potholes at the time of the accident. Two people were saved. According to US media, one person was initially taken to a hospital and released a short time later. The remaining six people were missing for many hours.
How did the search for the missing people go? According to official information, the first emergency calls were received around 1:40 a.m. (local time) on Tuesday. A few minutes later, the first emergency services arrived at the scene of the accident. Throughout Tuesday, police and rescue workers searched for the six missing people in the water, from the air and on land. In addition to dozens of divers, infrared and sonar technology was also used. Initially, five vehicles were identified in the water, including three cars and a concrete mixer. But no people were found.
What about the ship’s crew? The 22-member crew is safe, according to Singapore’s Maritime and Ports Authority. The Danish shipping company Maersk confirmed that it had rented the ship from the charter company Synergy Group and was transporting customers’ cargo on it.
How did the collision happen? According to the authorities, there is no evidence of an intentional act or even a terrorist attack. US President Joe Biden spoke of a “terrible accident”. According to initial findings, a problem with the power supply could have been the cause. According to information from Singapore, there was a “temporary loss of propulsion”, which is why the ship was unable to maintain its course.
How fast was the ship going? According to Maryland Governor Wes Moore, the Singapore-flagged, 290-meter-long container ship “Dali” was heading toward the bridge “at eight knots, so at a rapid speed” – that’s about 15 kilometers per hour. The collision caused the four-lane, more than 2.5 kilometer long bridge to collapse. As part of the national traffic artery Interstate 695, it spanned the port of the east coast metropolis of Baltimore.
How are the authorities proceeding with the investigation? The chairwoman of the Transportation Safety Board NTSB, Jennifer Homendy, did not initially comment on the possible causes. “The NTSB doesn’t speculate, we provide facts,” she said. During the investigation, two dozen investigators would take a close look at the construction of the bridge as well as the ship and its history. The so-called ship data recorder is of particular importance.