In Baltimore, a crane is deployed to clear debris from a collapsed bridge.

Cranes began arriving Thursday evening, March 28, in Baltimore, eastern United States, as part of efforts to clear debris from a collapsed bridge, as authorities warned it would take a long time to reopen a port vital to the American economy.

The machines will have to remove the twisted steel remains of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which is used by thousands of vehicles every day, and which collapsed like a house of cards on Tuesday, after being hit by a container ship, blocking the entrance. Baltimore Harbor. Army Corps of Engineers “East Coast’s Largest Crane Moves to Baltimore to Help Us”Maryland Governor Wes Moore told the press Thursday evening.

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“Before we can do the lifting, we need to figure out how to cut the bridge into the right size pieces so we can lift it out of the water using a crane”Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath explained. “We are very sensitive to the idea that this is also the resting place of four fathers, four brothers, four sons.”Tom Perez announced at the White House during an interview with the American channel MSNBC.

The bodies of two of the six missing workers who were working on the structure at the time of the accident were recovered on Wednesday. The search for the other four bodies was interrupted because authorities deemed it too dangerous to send divers to the crash site. “The water is so dark and the debris so dense that, in most cases, our divers cannot see more than 30 to 60 cm”Mr. Moore explained.

Four men, all Latin American immigrants, are believed to have died in the accident that shut down shipping at the nation’s ninth-busiest port, which creates more than 15,000 jobs. He was part of a team of eight workers working at night to repair the road. Two of them were rescued shortly after the bridge collapsed. Area residents took part in a vigil in a nearby park Thursday morning, local media reported, while Baltimore City Hall held a fundraiser to support the victims’ families.

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Initial federal aid of $60 million

For reconstruction, it “It won’t take hours, or days, or weeks”Wes Moore, the governor of the state of Maryland, where Baltimore is located, also warned. “It’s a long way to go”

before returning to normal.

Maryland asked the federal state for an initial envelope of 60 million dollars (approximately 55 million euros), an appeal that was quickly heard by the government. The US Department of Transportation made the announcement Thursday “Quick Release” Out of this amount “Emergency Assistance Fund” in Maryland. This amount should make it possible“Help Maryland get to work immediately” and will be followed by other funds “As Reconstruction Progresses”Transportation Minister Pete Buttigieg explained.

After the disaster, President Joe Biden promised that the federal administration would cover the entire cost of rebuilding the bridge. Because of the disaster, maritime transportation remains suspended, the Port of Baltimore, which generates more than 15,000 jobs, is the ninth largest in the country in terms of activity.

Also Read | Articles are reserved for our subscribers Baltimore tries to overcome the economic blow of its collapsed bridges and blocked harbor

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On Thursday, Lloyds of London’s head of the insurance market warned that compensation from insurers for accidents could be the highest paid out in maritime transport. “This represents a significant loss, perhaps the largest.” Regarding sea transport “But not beyond our parameters”said Bruce Carnegie-Brown on CNBC.

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It is reopening “Our Priority”, said a Coast Guard rear admiral. Upstream of Baltimore, port authorities in New York and New Jersey plan to accommodate more cargo to mitigate the consequences of the accident, the governors of these states announced in a joint press release Thursday.

The world with AFP

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