It was a shocking event that seemingly came out of nowhere. When a large cargo ship lost power on an early Tuesday morning, a series of alarms began triggering. Dali, a ship originally from India, had planned a long-distance cargo trip to Sri Lanka but had lost power in the Maryland port.
Engineers had long been concerned about the fragile infrastructure of the bridge, as experienced builders quickly realized that a singular shot by a large ship would decimate the old bridge. And unfortunately, this realization soon turned to direct horror as the Dali’s power outage led to it crashing directly into the Francis Scott Key Bridge. It had dropped the anchor in the desperate attempt to stop the ship, but to no avail.
Instantly, the Port of Baltimore turned into a fury of chaos. Stationing about 8,000 workers, the port has now turned into a wreckage site. The bridge, still half-submerged, sticks out like a sore thumb for thousands of civilians to see. The 21 Indian workers on the ship, though none were injured, were stranded for a day as aid took slow time to recover wreckage and find a safe way to evacuate the members from the ship. However, the real tragedy came from the bridge workers that fateful morning.
A total of eight workers on the bridge were not able to evacuate in time before the Dali slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge. An inspector and seven road workers were plunged into the dark Patapsco waters. Although two workers were later found alive in the water, two other bodies have been recovered. Four are still missing and are now presumed as dead.
Now officially the deadliest national bridge collapse in over a decade, the bridge collapse continues to be monitored. It remains unclear how Maryland’s government plans to resolve this solution of large ships navigating in the tight Baltimore Port when it is fully clear of residue from this tragic accident.
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Image Credits: Tasos Katopodis, Getty Images
