After being struck by a freighter at approximately 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, a major bridge in Baltimore collapsed, causing a big piece of the bridge to drop into the Patapsco River. At least eight members of a construction crew were thrown into the river as a result of the collapse. At the same time that officials were transitioning from a search and rescue operation to a recovery effort, they made the announcement that they believed six persons to be deceased on Tuesday evening. The governor of Maryland, Wes Moore, who is a Democrat, stated at a press conference that the container ship had lost power just moments before it .
According to the head of a national union for ship pilots, when the Dali lost power, the pilot who was guiding the ship out of the Port of Baltimore ordered the ship’s rudder to be turned hard to the left side and the sail’s left anchor to be lowered. This was done in an effort to decelerate the vessel and prevent it from swinging to the right.
Six thought dead after rescue operation
According to the United States Coast Guard, all six people who were reported missing after the fall of the bridge in Baltimore are believed dead, and the service has ceased all efforts to rescue them.
During a press conference held on Tuesday evening, the Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath of the United States Coast Guard stated, “At this point, we do not believe that we are going to find any of these individuals still alive.”
At six in the morning, the search and recovery operations for the remains of the individuals will resume. The Wednesday
Rescue concludes with six feared dead.
According to the United States Coast Guard, all six people who were reported missing after the fall of the bridge in Baltimore are believed dead, and the service has ceased all efforts to rescue them.
During a press conference held on Tuesday evening, the Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath of the United States Coast Guard stated, “At this point, we do not believe that we are going to find any of these individuals still alive.”
Resuming the search and recovery efforts for the remains of the people will take place at six o’clock on Wednesday morning.
Memorial vigil for bridge collapse victims in Baltimore
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Parishioners from all over the region joined elected officials from throughout the region in praying for victims during a vigil that took place on Tuesday evening at Mount Olive Baptist Church of Turner Station in Dundalk, Maryland. This hamlet is located close to the foot of the Key Bridge, which was originally located there. The eight highway workers who “were laboring for our benefit” when the calamity hit were rescued by the Democratic Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski, who stated that he provided them with assistance.
The “changing conditions” of the waters surrounding the bridge, which included temperature and loose debris from the fall, rendered search attempts perilous for first responders, according to officials who announced on Tuesday that they had ceased rescue operations. Col. Roland Butler Jr., the superintendent of the Maryland State Police, stated that divers will return to the waters at six o’clock on Wednesday morning in order to conduct a recovery operation.
Officials stated on Tuesday night that it is highly unlikely that any of the six individuals who were listed as missing following the collapse of the bridge will be discovered alive. At approximately 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, search and rescue operations were abruptly halted.
Bridge reconstruction would likely take more than a year, say experts.
Reconstructing the Francis Scott Key Bridge is expected to take a significant amount of time and money, with estimates ranging from hundreds of millions to hundreds of millions of dollars.
As soon as the debris has been removed from the water and the shipping channel has been reopened, the first task that will be completed by the authorities is the reconstruction of the bridge itself.
The engineers will have to decide whether to construct something new or to mimic the design of the old bridge. According to experts, the decision will be based on the cost as well as any prospective alterations to the shipping channel that the new design may need to accept.
Following the collapse of a section of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia in the previous year, the route was restored within two weeks with the construction of a temporary bridge. During the course of the episode, lessons were learned about the importance of strong coordination between government officials and construction contractors in order to move rapidly.
On the other hand, experts have stated that the task that lies ahead in Baltimore is of a significantly different magnitude and is more difficult due to the fact that it entails crossing deep water.
Andy Winkler, who works at the Bipartisan Policy Center and researches infrastructure, stated that it is difficult to find exact similarities to the current situation.
His statement was that “this one is certainly a more difficult rebuilding from a technical standpoint.”
