The US Coast Guard has ceased search and rescue operations for six individuals who were on the Francis Scott Key Bridge during its collapse early Tuesday, following a major collision with a cargo boat. Recovery efforts are now underway for the missing persons, who are presumed dead.
Latest developments:
- Overnight search deemed unsafe: Search and recovery operations were halted overnight due to hazardous conditions, including "very unstable" sections of the steel bridge and shipping containers hanging from the cargo ship, according to Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace. Divers will resume search efforts Wednesday for the six missing individuals.
- Coast Guard assessing hazmat threat: The US Coast Guard is assessing damaged shipping containers, some containing potentially hazardous materials, from the crashed vessel. The team is also reviewing the ship’s manifest to identify any materials on board that may pose a health risk.
- Investigators to collect evidence: The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is leading an investigation into the incident and will board the vessel Wednesday to begin collecting evidence. Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley stated there is "absolutely no indication that it was intentional."
- People from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico among the missing: Miguel Luna, an immigrant from El Salvador, has been identified as one of the missing individuals. Two Guatemalans and several Mexicans are also unaccounted for. Local authorities have yet to confirm the identities of those missing.
- Ship blacked out before crash: Minutes before impact, there was a "total blackout" of engine and electrical power on the ship, according to Clay Diamond, executive director of the American Pilots Association.
- Reconstruction has hefty price tag: US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated rebuilding the bridge will "not be quick" and will be costly. President Joe Biden has called on Congress to support recovery efforts.
- Vital shipping port remains closed: Efforts will be made to clear the channel so the Port of Baltimore can reopen. Transportation Secretary Buttigieg stated there will be a major impact on supply chains.
- The Key Bridge was toppled shortly before 1:30 a.m. Tuesday after the cargo ship lost power and collided with one of the bridge’s support columns, sending people and cars into the Patapsco River.
- All 22 crew members of the cargo ship – a Singaporean-flagged vessel named DALI – are safe. However, the vessel and its contents remain in the middle of the channel.
- Federal officials are monitoring about 1.8 million gallons of fuel inside the ship for its "spill potential."
- An elite Coast Guard team is examining 13 damaged containers from the crashed vessel, some with hazardous materials.
The pilot of the ship did "everything that he could have done" to slow the vessel down and keep it from drifting toward the bridge once it lost power, said Diamond, the American Pilots Association director. Maritime pilots temporarily board a ship and help guide it through local waters.
NTSB investigators plan to collect evidence from the vessel, analyze the bridge’s structure, and examine debris that fell into the Patapsco River and onto the ship itself. They will also determine who was controlling the vessel and who was on the ship’s bridge at the time of the crash.
As officials have stated the crash appears to be an accident, Transportation Secretary Buttigieg sought to ease fears about bridge safety across the country, calling the Key Bridge collapse "a unique circumstance."