Maryland Governor Seeks $60M in Federal Help After Baltimore Bridge Collapse
BALTIMORE (NEWSnet/AP) — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore warned Thursday of a “very long road ahead” to recover from the loss of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge as he seeks $60M in immediate federal aid after the deadly collapse.
Moore promised that “the best minds in the world” were working on plans to clear the debris, move the cargo ship that rammed into the bridge from the channel, recover the bodies of the four remaining workers presumed dead and investigate what went wrong.
Moore, a Democrat, said the quick aid is needed to “lay the foundation for a rapid recovery.” President Joe Biden has pledged the federal government would pay the full cost of rebuilding the bridge.
“This work is not going to take hours. This work is not going to take days. This work is not going to take weeks,” Moore said. “We have a very long road ahead of us.”
U.S. Coast Guard officials said Wednesday night that barges were on their way to the spot where the bridge crossed the Patapsco River, but it was not clear when they would arrive.
A powerless cargo ship struck a pillar supporting the Interstate 695 bridge early Tuesday, causing the structure to snap in multiple places and plunge in the river below.
Divers recovered the bodies of two men in a pickup truck near the bridge’s middle span Wednesday, but officials said they have to start clearing the wreckage before anyone could reach the bodies of four other missing workers.
National Transportation Safety Board officials boarded the ship, the Dali, to recover information from its electronics and paperwork and to interview the captain and other crew members. Investigators shared a preliminary timeline of events before the crash, which federal and state officials have said appeared to be an accident.
Of the 21 crew members on the ship, 20 are from India, Randhir Jaiswal, the nation’s foreign ministry spokesperson, told reporters. One was slightly injured and needed stitches, but “all are in good shape and good health,” Jaiswal said.
The victims, who were part of a construction crew fixing potholes on the bridge, were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. At least eight people initially went into the water when the ship struck the bridge column, and two of them were rescued Tuesday, officials said.
The crash caused the bridge to break and fall into the water within seconds. Authorities had just enough time to stop vehicle traffic but didn’t get a chance to alert the construction crew.
The Dali, which is managed by Synergy Marine Group, was headed from Baltimore to Sri Lanka. It is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd., and Danish shipping giant Maersk said it had chartered it.
The huge vessel was carrying nearly 4,700 metal shipping containers, 56 of them with hazardous materials inside. Thirteen of those were destroyed, officials said. However, industrial hygienists who evaluated the contents identified them as perfumes and soaps, according to the Key Bridge Joint Information Center.
“There was no immediate threat to the environment,” the center said.
Booms have been placed in the area to control the spread of any oil that seeped into the water, and state environmental officials were also sampling the water Thursday.
The sudden loss of a highway that carries 30,000 vehicles a day and the port disruption will affect not only thousands of dockworkers and commuters but also U.S. consumers, who are likely to feel the impact of shipping delays.
The governors of New York and New Jersey have offered to take on cargo shipments that have been disrupted. Their respective governors, Kathy Hochul and Phil Murphy, said in a statement Thursday that ports in their states can handle additional shipments in an attempt to minimize supply chain disruptions.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has said the Biden administration was focused on reopening the port and rebuilding the bridge, but he did not put a timeline on those efforts. Buttigieg planned to meet Thursday with supply chain officials.
Copyright 2024 NEWsnet and The Associated Press. All rights reserved.