Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Saturday that conditions remain “unsafe” for rescue divers due to weather and debris after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse.
“Underwater conditions are not safe for rescue divers, and we’re not just talking about weather and wind,” Moore said at a news conference alongside Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and first responders. he said. “We’re talking about debris. We’re talking about wreckage. We’re talking about pieces of the Key Bridge that are underwater.”
“We’re going to keep our first responders safe, and we’re not going to compromise on each other,” Moore continued. “We’re going to do both at the same time.”
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“Current conditions are not safe for rescue divers, but as soon as the situation changes, Captain Butler has assured me that rescue divers will be back at sea immediately,” Moore said.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said at a press conference Saturday after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse that conditions were “unsafe” for rescue divers. (Uzu)
Moore also said the Corps and its partners will proceed with crane operations Saturday to cut and remove the northern portion of the bridge, which he called a “very complex process.”
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“This will ultimately allow us to temporarily open the restricted waterway and allow more vessels to enter the waters around the collapse site,” Moore said.
Moore also thanked the agencies that responded, as well as the Biden-Harris administration following the collapse.
A section of the bridge from the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge is suspended from the container ship Dali in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., March 26, 2024. (Army Corps of Engineers/Handout via Reuters)
8 construction workers, all from hometowns Central America, The Singapore-flagged container ship Dali collided with a bridge, causing it to collapse and plummeting into the sea. Two people were rescued after the collapse. Divers recovered the bodies of two others, and the remaining four are presumed dead.
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The Dali was on its way from Baltimore to Sri Lanka. The ship is owned by Grace Ocean Private Limited, and Danish shipping giant Maersk said it had chartered it.
Emergency boats work near the collapsed section of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after the Dali cargo ship collided with the bridge on March 27, 2024 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. (Reuters/Mike Seeger)
The ship was carrying more than 4,000 metal shipping containers, 56 of which contained hazardous materials. Officials said 13 of them were destroyed. Booms were installed to control the spread of oil that had seeped into the water, and state environmental officials also sampled the water on Thursday.
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FOX News’ Bradford Betts contributed to this report.
