The cause behind the accident is being investigated but Maryland’s governor Wes Moore has said the ship’s crew sent a mayday call reporting it had lost power shortly before the collision.
All 22 crew aboard a cargo ship that brought down a bridge near the US east coast city of Baltimore on Tuesday (March 26) were Indian, the company that manages the ship has said.
The ship, named the Dali, was travelling from Baltimore to Colombo in Sri Lanka when it collided with a support pillar of the Francis Scott Key bridge at 1:30 am local time, the Synergy Marine Group said in a statement.
All crew members, including the ship’s two pilots, were accounted for and there were no reports of any injuries, Synergy also said.
Following the collision, the bridge collapsed in seconds, taking down several vehicles and people into the river below, the Associated Press reported.
Rescuers have pulled out two people and the remaining six were part of a construction crew repairing potholes on the bridge, AP cited Maryland’s transportation secretary as saying. Baltimore is the most populous city in the US’s Maryland state.
The cause behind the accident is being investigated but Maryland’s governor Wes Moore has said the ship’s crew sent a mayday call reporting that it had lost power shortly before the collision.
Lights on the ship can also be seen flickering before the collision in a video of the incident.
The lack of power appears to have caused the ship to lose steering, the Baltimore Sun newspaper cited a US federal legislator as saying.
Dali’s mayday call allowed local authorities to prevent cars from driving onto the Key bridge just before the ship, which was travelling at the “very rapid speed” of eight knots (~15 kmh), collided with it, Maryland governor Moore said.
He declared a state of emergency following the collapse.
Temperatures in the water were around 8 degrees Celsius (47 Fahrenheit) at the time of the apparent accident, levels that can be fatal after just a few hours or immersion or less, and that are liable to rapidly lead to exhaustion or unconsciousness.
US President Joe Biden has called the Baltimore bridge collapse a “terrible accident” and said there was “no reason to believe it was intentional”.
He expressed his gratitude to the “the brave rescuers who rushed to the scene” and praised traffic controllers who, responding to the ship’s mayday call, “closed the bridge to traffic before it was struck, inevitably saving lives”.
Local officials say the collapse of the bridge is likely to cause substantial economic damage for as long as it continues to obstruct shipping operations at the country’s ninth busiest harbour.
Also Read: Ship Carrying 22 Indian Crew Members Collides with Baltimore Bridge
