Even being able to rescue two of the workers in dark, cold water, 50 feet deep and strewn with mangled steel, is commendable. ‘Heroes’ is the right word here.
Yesterday, Maryland governor Wes Moore described first responders as “heroes” for stopping traffic on the Francis Scott Key Bridge right before the bridge collapsed when it was struck by a container ship. Today, the Baltimore Banner reports on how that happened.
The entire episode occurs over a span of less than five minutes. The lights on the container ship, the Dali, first went out at 1:24 a.m., possibly signaling a power failure. It hit the bridge support at 1:28:45 a.m.
One minute after the lights went out, at 1:25 a.m., the ship began to stray from its course, headed directly toward the bridge support. It had been released from tugboats 15 minutes earlier and was already well clear of the terminal it had left. It is not clear the exact moment when the ship sent a mayday signal, but it must have been very soon after because Maryland Transportation Authority Police had decided to stop bridge traffic in both directions at 1:27 a.m.
“The last two cars to cross the bridge headed south. Forty-nine seconds later, the Dali crashed into the bridge,” the Banner reports.
Closing the bridge to more vehicles proved easier than communicating with the construction crew of eight workers on the bridge. “Just make sure no one’s on the bridge right now. . . . If there’s a crew up there, you might want to notify whoever the foreman is to see if we can get them off the bridge temporarily,” said one of the officers at 1:28 a.m. Another officer offered to drive out to tell the crew to leave, but the bridge had already collapsed before he got the chance.
Six of the eight workers remain missing and are presumed dead. Rescuers were able to recover the other two from the water quickly after the collapse. “One was taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center, treated and released,” the Banner reports. In what is perhaps the most stunning part of this story, “The other declined treatment and walked away.”
All eight workers were immigrants from Latin America. A prayer vigil for the six presumed dead was held at a Baptist church in Dundalk, Md., a community adjacent to the city of Baltimore and close to the port, Tuesday evening. Baltimore mayor Brandon Scott and consuls from El Salvador, Mexico, and Guatemala were in attendance.
Police responded quickly to a truly extraordinary situation in the middle of the night and likely saved lives as a result. Even being able to rescue two of the workers in dark, cold water, 50 feet deep and strewn with mangled steel, is commendable. “Heroes” is the right word here.