In the early morning of March 26th, a cargo ship struck a pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse. At the time of impact, both passing traffic and a road construction crew were present on the bridge. Of the eight victims, two were rescued, three were found deceased, and the remaining two are presumed dead. The cargo ship, Dali, suffered a “complete blackout,” and despite sending a mayday call to the Maryland Department of Transportation, proceeded to hit the bridge spanning over the Patapsco River, causing irrevocable damage. The ruins of the subsided bridge blocked the majority of shipping from the Port of Baltimore, costing approximately fifteen million dollars in economic loss per day. Nationwide, citizens and political figures alike are eager to restore the bridge’s damages, though it does come with a looming price tag with repairs costing upwards of a billion dollars.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge, often shortened to the Key Bridge, has been a vital part of Baltimore’s skyline since its construction in 1977.
Individuals nearby the early morning collapse share their accounts of the devastating incident. Christian Miller, who traveled over the Francis Scott Key Bridge just thirty minutes prior to the crash, was present on the bank of the Patapsco River as the cargo ship struck the bridge’s structural pillar. Miller tells NBC News, “I heard a lot of debris fall, metal scraping, stuff hitting the water.” He goes on to express, “My stomach sank, [it was] a very disturbing sight.”
Following news of the collapse, President Biden traveled to Baltimore to grieve with the six victim’s families. In a statement, the president shares, “The damage is devastating, and our hearts are still breaking. Eight, eight construction workers went into the water when the bridge fell, six lost their lives. Most were immigrants, but all were Marylanders —hard-working, strong and selfless.” The president later goes on to claim he’d “move heaven and Earth to rebuild this bridge as rapidly as humanly possible,” and hold those responsible for the bridge collapse “to the fullest extent the law will allow.”
Dali, initially chartered to sail to Colombo, Sri Lanka, belongs to Singapore-based corporations Grace Ocean Private Ltd, and Synergy Marine Pte Ltd. Proceeding the crash, the two jointly filed to cap the company’s liability at $43.6 million, which drastically undershoots projected repair costs to the Key Bridge. Despite the cargo ship company’s possible role in the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, The White House is adamant that the federal government will fund the restoration of the bridge in order to ensure the timely reinstatement of the Port of Baltimore.
In the wake of the Key Bridge collapse, Baltimore mourns both the lives lost in the devastating incident, and the destruction of a bridge rich in history. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott expresses the thought many have nationwide, telling ABC News, “my heart continues to be with all the families.”
