Francis Scott Key Bridge
The last minutes before the shipwreck in Baltimore
Watch the video: Baltimore – highway bridge collapses after ship collision.
Video source: n-tv
A container ship rams the pillar of a bridge in Baltimore. The authorities assume that six people have died. The course of the catastrophe on Tuesday morning in a minute log.
“Shots like something out of an action movie” – these are the words Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott used to describe the bridge collapse on Tuesday. In the early hours of the morning, the freighter Dali rammed a pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. She breaks in. Cars and people fall into the depths. The course of an unfathomable tragedy.
0.28 a.m.: The Dali is unmoored from Baltimore Harbor and begins moving toward Colombo, Sri Lanka. This is suggested by data from the MarineTraffic portal, which the US broadcaster CNN evaluated.
1:24 a.m.: The lights on the Dali begin to flicker as the container ship sails along the Patapsco River. The radio traffic on the ship, published by the Broadcastify portal, suggests that the power is out and the crew is sending a mayday distress call to the coast: They are having problems steering the ship.
Ship in Baltimore sends distress call
The Dali is in contact with port staff – as is usual when ships sail across the Patapsco River. Because of the emergency call, the bridge is closed and no other vehicles can get on it. However, eight road workers remain on the bridge. Why is not yet clear.
1:26 a.m.: The container ship changes course and heads towards a pillar of the bridge.
The captain instructs his crew to row hard to the left and drop an anchor. The ship’s engine cannot be restarted, as Clay Diamond, director of the American Pilots Association, later said. The Maritime and Port Authority in Singapore, under whose flag the Dali sails, also confirmed: The ship no longer had any engine power in the minutes before the collision.
The lights on the Dali suddenly go out. “Minutes before the bridge there was a total blackout on the ship,” said Clay Diamond. “That means the ship has lost all propulsion power and electricity.” Shortly after the power outage, a video shows how the lights on the Dali are turned back on. This could have been done via an emergency generator.
1:27 a.m.: The container ship rams the Francis Scott Key Bridge and causes it to collapse within seconds. US Coast Guard personnel are called to the scene.
1.40 a.m.: The 911 emergency number receives several calls. The Baltimore Fire Department is asked to send a water rescue team. She receives several clues that there are people in the ice-cold water.
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1.50 a.m.: The first fire brigade units arrive at the scene and report a complete collapse of the bridge. The search for the missing people in the water begins.
Two people were rescued from the water. They are part of a group of eight construction workers who repaired road damage on the bridge. The search continues for the other six workers. However, the authorities now assume that the people died in the cold water. According to CNN, the missing people are people from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
1:59 a.m.: The Maryland Department of Transportation is closing all roads in the area around the bridge in both directions.
Sources: “New York Times“, CNN, Fox, CBS