Cleanup, Investigation Continues at Baltimore Bridge Collapse Site

BALTIMORE (NEWSnet/AP) – The cargo ship that caused the Baltimore bridge collapse was carrying hazardous materials, the National Transportation Safety Board said, as the investigation continues.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said there are 56 containers aboard containing hazardous materials, including corrosives, flammables and lithium ion batteries. She said some containers were breached and a sheen was identified in the water that will be dealt with by authorities. She said the voyage data recorder has been recovered.

Homendy said the investigation could take 12 to 24 months but that the NTSB will not hesitate to issue urgent safety recommendations during that time. She said a preliminary report should be released in two to four weeks.

“It’s a massive undertaking for an investigation,” Homendy said. "It’s a very tragic event.”

In the meantime, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg planned to meet Thursday with supply chain officials. The loss of a highway that carries 30,000 vehicles a day and the port disruption will affect not only local dockworkers and commuters but also lead to shipping delays.

During a press conference Wednesday, authorities said bodies of two of the missing construction workers known to be at the scene had been found. They were part of a crew fixing potholes on the bridge.

Maryland State Police Superintendent Col. Roland L. Butler said 35-year-old Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes and 26-year-old Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera were recovered from a red pickup truck submerged in about 25 feet of water near the bridge’s middle span.

The ship that crashed into a bridge in Baltimore was undergoing “routine engine maintenance” in the port beforehand, the Coast Guard said.

U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said at a news conference on Wednesday that authorities had been informed that the ship was going to undergo routine engine maintenance before it lost power. But he said authorities were not informed of any problems.

The vessel, the Dali, left port at 12:39 a.m. Tuesday and, after it entered the channel, signs of trouble came at about 1:25 a.m. when numerous alarms sounded, according to the NTSB.

Police officers had just blocked off motorist traffic to the bridge after its mayday call, when the ship hit the structure and the bridge collapsed.

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