The quick response of Maryland officials helped save lives moments before the disastrous collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Governor Wes Moore said.
Personnel on the container ship Dali issued a mayday call as it headed towards the 1.6-mile-long bridge at a “very rapid speed” alerting the Maryland Department of Transportation that they had lost control of the ship.
Local authorities swiftly reacted by closing the bridge before it was struck “which undoubtedly saved lives,” President Joe Biden said Tuesday.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed that traffic cameras showed “no vehicles transiting the bridge at the time of the incident.”
However, several workers fixing potholes on the bridge and multiple vehicles ended up falling into the frigid waters when the vessel struck the bridge at around 1:30 a.m. ET.
Two workers were successfully rescued while at least six others remained unaccounted for; Moore said, adding that officials are working to determine how many people may have been involved in the collapse.
“The thing we do know is that many of the vehicles were stopped before they got into the bridge, which saved lives in a very, very heroic way.”
