Six individuals are feared dead following a tragic incident where a ship collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, USA, causing it to collapse into the water. The collision occurred on Tuesday, leading authorities to suspend rescue operations, assuming that those missing have tragically lost their lives in the accident.
The container ship, crewed entirely by Indian personnel, experienced a momentary loss of power, resulting in a collision with the bridge. Fortunately, all 22 crew members remained unharmed and were safely located. However, six repair workers who were on the bridge at the time of the collapse are currently missing. These workers were part of a construction crew tasked with repairing potholes on the bridge when the tragic incident occurred around midnight.
US Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath stated, “Based on the length of time that we’ve gone in this search, the extensive search efforts that we put into it, the water temperature… at this point we do not believe that we’re going to find any of these individuals still alive,” as reported by AFP.
Authorities have transitioned from search to recovery operations due to challenging water conditions, making it difficult for divers to conduct prolonged underwater searches. Despite this, overnight patrolling by boats will continue in the area.
The crew of the ship attempted to avert the crisis when they experienced a momentary loss of propulsion around midnight, rendering them unable to control the ship’s direction. Sensing an imminent collision with the bridge, the ship issued an SOS signal to warn of the impending crash. As a final effort to prevent further movement, anchors were dropped.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore highlighted the importance of the SOS call, which allowed officials to halt traffic on the bridge. Despite the collision, swift action prevented additional vehicles and individuals from falling into the Patapsco River.
“We’re thankful that between the Mayday and the collapse that we had officials who were able to begin to stop the flow of traffic,” Mr. Moore expressed, as cited by AFP.
Video footage captured the harrowing moment when the container ship collided with one of the bridge’s supports, leading to the collapse of the steel structure, which had been in place since 1977.
