The scope of the Baltimore bridge accident widened Wednesday. Six construction workers were declared dead and investigators recovered a black box from the ship. The ship collision brought one of America’s busiest ports to a grinding halt.
Authorities continued to investigate the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after the Singapore-flagged container ship Dali collided with the bridge early Tuesday on its way to Sri Lanka.
Six construction workers who were filling holes in the bridge and went missing after the incident are now presumed dead. Two other people were rescued. One person was admitted to Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore and later released.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg offered his condolences to the families of the victims, saying, “Tragically, six people lost their lives and a seventh was seriously injured. Most of them were workers who were fixing road services while they were sleeping.”
Buttigieg also warned of “significant and long-term impacts on the supply chain.” Baltimore is the ninth busiest port in the United States and the busiest port for motor vehicle traffic. General Motors and Ford announced they would reroute the affected shipments, and Maersk, the shipping company that chartered the Dali, said it would divert the shipment and help customers book overland transportation from other ports. Then he announced.
Maryland lawmakers have drafted an emergency bill to compensate workers affected by port closures following the disaster.
Post to social mediaState Senate President Bill Ferguson said more than 15,000 people in the region depend on daily port operations “to put food on the table.”
“The cost of life lost yesterday is overwhelming and tragic. The cost to the economy and stability for the thousands of people affected in the coming days cannot be understated,” Ferguson said.
Trucks were recovered from the Patapsco River Wednesday morning, and a memo from the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that at least one vehicle was left hanging from metal.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore praised the recovery efforts of divers, who were challenged by shifting debris in the frigid waters, saying one of the main reasons for canceling search and rescue efforts.
Mr Moore said: “I can’t express enough their heroism. They’re in frigid conditions. They’re in the dark and can literally only see about a foot in front of them. They try to navigate broken metal. And they are now also in places where people are presumed to have lost their lives.
“I can’t express enough how amazing these people are.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday that Joe Biden, who promised on Tuesday that he would pay for the entire rebuilding, has been kept informed of the latest developments and vowed to “move heaven and earth to help.” He said he did. We will cooperate with the emergency response and help rebuild the bridge as quickly as possible using human power. ”
While the bridge collapse and widespread disruption to traffic and travel have ripples across the region, experts said the impact on the broader U.S. economy and inflation was likely to be limited. But Salvatore Mercogliano, a history professor and shipping expert at Campbell University, said the biggest post-bankruptcy issue will center around coal exports.
“Baltimore is a major port for coal exports, but it doesn’t mean you can move the coal to another facility because you need specialized facilities to do that…and the facilities that do exist are nearly full. “The closure of the Port of Baltimore will have a significant impact on energy transportation outside the United States,” Mercogliano said.
Construction worker Jesús Campos said he knew the missing crew members and that they all worked for the construction company Brauner Builders.
“It’s a difficult situation…I have friends who worked on that bridge,” Campos said, adding that the workers were low-income immigrants who used their wages to support their families in the U.S. and abroad.
The named victims include Miguel Luna, a 49-year-old husband and father of three from El Salvador who has lived in Maryland for more than 19 years, and Miguel Luna, a 49-year-old married father from Azcualpa, Honduras. Including one 38-year-old mayor, Yasir Suazo Sandoval. Two of them have lived in the United States for her 18 years and started her own maintenance business.
Guatemala’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Confirmed Two of the six workers were Guatemalan nationals, aged 26 and 35, from San Luis in Peten state and Camotan in Chiquimula state, respectively.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador Said Three Mexicans were also working on the bridge when it collapsed. He added that one person was rescued alive, but the other two remained missing.
in statement Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement on Wednesday said the rescued person was from Michoacán state and was recovering from his injuries. According to the ministry, the two missing people are from the states of Veracruz and Michoacán.
A crowdfunding campaign launched by the Latino Justice Circle, a nonprofit serving the Baltimore area, had raised more than $47,000 for the victim’s family as of Wednesday afternoon. Funds are distributed to families and used to cover basic needs such as rent, groceries, utilities, and campaigns. Said.
