Search for survivors after Baltimore bridge collapse has been suspended
The search for survivors has been suspended after a container ship lost power and rammed into a bridge in Baltimore, causing the span to buckle into the river below.
US Coast Guard and Maryland State Police officials said that based on the frigid temperature of the water and the length of time since the bridge came down there was little if any chance the missing could be found alive.
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A trestled section of the of the 2.57km span almost immediately crumpled into the icy water, sending vehicles and people into the river.
Rescuers pulled two survivors to safety, one of whom was hospitalised, but the search was suspended about 18 hours after the tragedy, authorities said.
The eight individuals were part of a work crew filling potholes on the road surface of the bridge when the accident occurred, officials said.
The ship reported a power failure before impact, which enabled officials to stop traffic on the bridge before the collapse.
“By being able to stop cars from coming over the bridge, these people are heroes. They saved lives last night,” Maryland Governor Wes Moore said at a news briefing hours later.
The bridge was up to code and there were no known structural issues, Moore said.
There was no evidence of foul play, officials said.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott described a scene of twisted metal shooting into the sky.
“It was something out of an action movie. It was something you never thought you’d see,” he said.
A live video posted on YouTube showed the ship ploughing into the bridge in darkness.
The headlights of vehicles could be seen on the bridge as it crashed into the water and the ship caught fire.
US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said closure of one of the country’s busiest shipping lanes until further notice would have a protracted impact on supply chains.
The Port of Baltimore handles more automobile cargo than any other US port - more than 750,000 vehicles in 2022, according to port data.
General Motors and Ford Motor will reroute affected shipments, but the companies said the impact would be minimal.
Crews had been repairing potholes on the bridge at the time of the collapse, and sonar detected vehicles under the water, which was about 15 metres deep at that point, Maryland Secretary of Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said.
The 289m vessel had experienced a momentary loss of propulsion and dropped anchors as part of emergency procedures before impact, its management company, Synergy Marine reported.
The Dali, owned by Grace Ocean Pte Ltd, rammed into one of the pillars of the bridge, Synergy said.
All 22 crew members aboard the vessel were accounted for, it said.
The port’s closure also threatens to disrupt supplies of goods ranging from coal to sugar.
It could create bottlenecks and increase delays and costs on the eastern seaboard, experts say.
President Joe Biden said the US Coast Guard responded quickly to the mayday call and commended the fast action of Maryland transportation officials who shut the bridge before it was struck and “undoubtedly saved lives”.
Biden promised to visit Baltimore as soon as possible and said he wanted the federal government to pay to rebuild the bridge.
“I’m directing my team to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible,” Biden said.
The bridge, named for the author of the Star-Spangled Banner, opened in 1977.
The US Coast Guard reported the collapse at 1.27am and it deployed search and rescue crews after the ship forced the trellis-like bridge up into a mangled mass of metal.
National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy said investigators were at the scene but would not board the ship while search-and-rescue operations continued.
The Dali was chartered by Danish shipping company Maersk, which said it was “horrified by what has happened in Baltimore and our thoughts are with all of those affected”.
Tuesday’s disaster might be the worst US bridge collapse since 2007, when the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed into the Mississippi River, killing 13 people.
