Baltimore Bridge Crash: Tragedy Strikes Baltimore Port
In a shocking incident of Baltimore Bridge’s fatal crash across the entrance to the Maryland city’s port, the container ship Dali was found responsible for claiming the lives of 6 construction workers who were on the bridge during the collision.
Baltimore Bridge Crash: Quick Insight
Dali while heading to Srilanka, lost its power suddenly, (but the power came back briefly only to flicker off again and it was too late to handle the situation after the power was back the 2nd time) and the pilot issued a distress call before crashing the bridge.
Within a few minutes after the accident, Police officers stationed at both ends of the bridge were instructed to halt the flow of traffic crossing the bridge as informed by Marcel Muise, the NTSB investigator in charge of the collapse inquiry.
The Indian crew of Dali’s timely escalation was praised as the crew was able to save many lives even in such a calamity. Biden thanked the Indian crew and said “Undoubtedly saved lives”. However, a US-based webcomic’s racist cartoon ‘Foxford Comics’ shared a post on X captioned “Last known recording from inside the Dali moments before the impact” has created quite a stir.
Indian Economist Sanjeev Sanyal condemned the post targeting Indians. Many people took to their X accounts and slammed the cartoon mocking the Indian crew how could one degrade the crew when the US officials themselves appreciated their efforts.
Victims of the Tragedy
8 workers were on the bridge during the disaster. When the bridge hit the ship, it plunged them into the water below. 2 were rescued on the day, and the other 4 missing victims were named.
The victims Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, Miguel Luna, Jose Mynor Lopez, and Carlos Hernandez are yet to be found (and the other 2 people’s names are unknown)— All 6 presumed to be dead.
Moore assured financial security to the victims’ families.
Recovery Efforts
It was found that the Containers on the ship were flammable and corrosive materials. And the officials spotted sheen i.e. the presence of substances such as oil or other pollutants, on the water. However, no immediate health or environmental threat was reported.
US President, Joe Biden is to arrive next week as the massive cranes that could lift 1000 tons were prepared to remove the dangerous wreckage and clear the Francis Scott Key bridge.
The crew cut the bridge into pieces and each part was carefully lifted.
As the jagged steel parts make the search for debris difficult, the Army Corps of Engineers used sonar technology to locate debris.
Livelihoods Lost on the Port of Baltimore
Wes Moore, governor of Maryland said that approximately 8000 jobs could be affected by the bridge collapse. He called this incident a “global crisis”
“Our top priority is to get the shipping lane open because of the impact it has on our country and the global supply chain,” he added.
Dali – Flagged by Chilean Authorities
Dali was built in 2015 and is 300 M or 984 ft long and capable of carrying up to approximately 10,000 shipping containers for a variety of commercial purposes.
In 2023 Chilean authorities briefly held the Dali reporting a deficiency of unreadable pressure gauges related to propulsion and auxiliary machinery.
The Baltimore Bridge disaster paved the way to reconsider the size of containers and the potential damage they could cause.
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