- A Large Container ship called Dali Ship was struck by Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge
- 2 people are rescued and 6 people are presumed to be dead but the body is still unidentified
In a major man-made disaster in the US, the big suspension Francis Scott Key Baltimore Bridge, Maryland collapsed after being struck by a large container ship Dali. It is reported the large cargo ship vessel hit the pole of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
A massive cargo ship was crippled by a loss of electricity which causes it to hit the pole of the bridge. The bridge stands 185 feet above the Patapsco River. It is reported six people are still missing and the two people were rescued by the rescue team of Baltimore. It is reported that one rescue worker is uninjured and the other is in a highly serious condition. Many vehicles also plummeted into the river as the cargo hit the Bridge.
The people who are missing are the construction company “Brawner Builders” workers and they were repairing masonry and potholes on the bridge. The ship quickly alerted the authorities about the incident allowing the officials to stop the flow of traffic from both sides of the bridge, which actually stopped possible further accidents.
On the Cargo ship Vali, all 22 crew members are safe and all are from the Indian subcontinent.
Workers Who Are Missing at the Baltimore Bridge Collapse Incident
The 985-foot-long cargo vessel Vali due to power failure struck the Francis Scott Key bridge, Baltimore Tuesday night at 1:30 am. After it hit the bridge it collapsed immediately and all the crew members of the Brawner Builders construction company who were repairing the potholes on the roadway of the the bridge.
There were 8 workers, all were submerged in the icy cold waters when the river hit the
The workers working in the Brawners Builders, which describes itself as its services general contractor” specializing in Bridge access equipment, Bridge Inspection Units, Underbridge Bucket and Platform equipment, and Hi-Rail Equipment Rentals.”
Out of all the 8 workers, 2 were rescued. One is found to be uninjured and the second is in severely injured condition. Both of them are from Mexico and Guatemala.
The other six are now presumed to be dead, but the team of divers was unable to relocate them. All of the six victims are now from Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, and Honduras.
A non-profit organization CASA supports labor and immigrants and identified one missing person Miguel Luna, from El Salvador and the father of three children have been missing.
Another missing person has been identified as 38-year-old Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, he is a resident of Honduras. He lived in the US for the past 18 years. He is the father of two children, an 18-year-old son and a 5-year-old daughter.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Guatemala said that two of the victims are identified from Guatemala, One is a 26-year-old Dorlian Castello Carbrera, originally from San Luis, Peten and the other is a Jose 35-year-old from Camotan, Chiquimula.
The other two are Julios and Carlos from Mexico.
Coastguard and divers teams are finding difficulty in the bodies of the workers as the visibility is zero under the water, and the temperature is really cold. Even the debris from the bridge and Vali ship containers is highly unstable which makes the search operation highly difficult
History and Economical Significance of Baltimore Bridge
The key point about the Francis Scott Key Bridge or Baltimore Bridge –
- It was built in 1977 over the Patapsco River and formed part of the Baltimore.
- It was initially named Key Bridge but later named the Author of the American National Anthem.
- The bridge is more than 1.65 miles long, which makes it one of the longest bridges in the World
- It is recorded as the most traffic bridge in the world, with approximately 31,000 vehicles road across the bridge daily. According to the Maryland Transportation Authority approximately 11.3 million vehicles per year.
- The Baltimore port is the busiest shipping trade hub in the USA, especially for the trading of automobile cargo like cars and trucks.
- The large shipping Industries basically earn a revenue of $ 3.3 billion a year, which gives employment to 15,000 people.
- After the collapse of the bridge, the shipping and automobile industries were affected badly.
The Vali Vessel Owned by Synergy Group from Singapore
The Vali Vessel company is owned by the Synergy group from Singapore. The container on the Ship is from the world’s largest cargo company Maersk.
The Vali ship is en route to Sri Lanka. There were 22 workers on the ship. All are from India but they all are safe after the accident.
The pilot of the Vali ship said that he was doing everything to turn the ship away from the Baltimore bridge. But at the last minute, there was a complete blackout in the ship that caused the ship’s engine to stop and at that moment, the pilot was unable to do anything.
The Nautical Commission is investigating the ship Synergy Company.
There are lots of searches the team that included US Coast Guards, FBI, Baltimore Police Divers Team, and National Transportation Safety Board.