Use

Baltimore Bridge, ship had lost control. 6 workers probably dead

The Francis Scott Key bridge in the city in the state of Maryland collapsed this morning after being hit by a large merchant ship

26 March 2024aggiornato il 26 marzo 2024 alle ore 23,05

Nave urta uno dei piloni, ponte crolla a Baltimora

3' min read

The six missing workers who were on the Baltimor Bridge at the time of the collapse are 'probably dead'. This was said by the construction company they worked for, according to a report by the Associated Press.

The Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore, an American city in the state of Maryland, collapsed this morning after it was hit by a large Singapore-flagged merchant ship, according to US media reports, which published video of the incident.

Lanes are closed in both directions and traffic has been re-routed, the Maryland Transportation Authority said on X. Maritime transport in the Port of Baltimore has also been 'suspended until further notice', authorities said. Video of the accident shows vehicles that fell in the collapse of a large part of the bridge, and rescue operations are now underway.

Several vehicles that were crossing the collapsed Baltimore bridge after a collision with a large merchant ship fell into the water, reports the Guardian, pointing out that the collision occurred at around 1.30 am. The ship that hit the Baltimore bridge in the night caught fire and sank, reports the website of the British newspaper. According to the Baltimore Fire Department spokesman, at least 20 people fell into the waters of the Patapsco River after the bridge collapsed, reports the BBC. The number of missing people could still rise, however. The search is ongoing.

US President Joe Biden confirmed late Tuesday morning, Washington time, that "initial findings [the collapse] appears to be a terrible accident, there are no indications of intentional acts". Biden also pledged that the federal government would cover the full cost of rebuilding the bridge, announcing that it would go to Baltimore as soon as possible.

Abc: the freighter had lost control

All crew members of the cargo ship Dali that caused the collapse of the Francis Scott-Key bridge are unharmed. This was announced by the shipping company. Two captains were on board the ship. An initial hypothesis on the causes comes from the Abc television network: the cargo ship that caused the Baltimore bridge collapse had 'lost propulsion' as it left the port and had warned the authorities that it was losing control. Abc cites the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency as a source. "The ship had informed the Maryland Department of Transportation that it had lost control and that a collision with the bridge was possible," the TV network says.

The bridge opened in 1977

Open since 1977, the Francis Scott-Key Bridge (named after the author of the American national anthem) is a huge four-lane steel structure, 2,632 metres long. It carries an average of 11 million vehicles a year and is one of the authorised routes for transporting dangerous goods through Baltimore harbour that cannot pass through the two tunnels named after Baltimore Harbor and Fort McHenry. The central archway that the freighter Dali collided with has an opening of 366 metres, the third longest in the world. The construction, as the final piece of the Baltimore Bypass, cost $141 million at the time.

An investigation into the condition of the Baltimore Bridge will be opened as soon as safety conditions allow. This was stated by fire department spokesman Kevin Cartwright. "The bridge had been standing for decades and served millions of commuters in the metropolitan area. Structural engineers will be brought in to try to understand what the conditions were at the time of the collapse," Cartwright said.

The Dali ship that caused the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore flies the Singapore flag: it is a 48-metre wide and 300-metre long freighter built in 2015, according to the platform MarineTraffic.com. The freighter was bound for Colombo and was due to arrive at its destination on 22 April. Prior to Baltimore, it had stopped at the ports of Norfolk and New York, and before that it had crossed the Panama Canal. The owner of the ship is Grace Ocean Pte Ltd., while Synergy Marine Group is the operator who in turn had leased it to the Danish shipping giant Maersk who is 'closely following' the development of the situation.

Brand connect

I prossimi eventi

Tutti gli eventi

Notizie e approfondimenti sugli avvenimenti politici, economici e finanziari.

World