American President, Joe Biden, responded on Tuesday March 26 “ Terrible accident » Occurred in Baltimore (Maryland) in the United States, where a container ship collided with a highway bridge and collapsed. The authorities announced the suspension of sea traffic to and from the port. Mr. Biden called for it to reopen as quickly as possible.
A White House tenant assured that it would affect ” All necessary federal resources” For the reconstruction of the bridge. At the same time, a major rescue operation is underway in the harbor to try to find survivors.
During the night from Monday to Tuesday, a Singapore flagged container ship named Dally and 300 meters long, on its way to Sri Lanka, collided with the piling of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore (Maryland) in the United States. Within seconds, almost the entire bridge was submerged, dragging vehicles along with it.
According to local governor Wes Moore, shortly before the collision, the ship appealed to the authorities for help, saying it had a technical problem, which made it possible to cut some road traffic and save lives. Boats, helicopters, divers and sonar were deployed to search for survivors. According to images broadcast by American television channels, the vessel hit a pillar of the bridge.
According to the latest report, rescuers are searching the water and seabed for at least six members of the team of eight workers who were working on the bridge at the time of the accident. Two people have already been pulled from the water by emergency services. One person was taken to the hospital in critical condition while the other was released without injury, Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said.
At this time, there are no reports of people trapped in cars that fell from the bridge collapse. The fire chief said sonar spotted vehicles in the water, but could not provide further details. There is no crew member Dally According to Synergy Marine Group, the shipping company that operates the container ship, were injured.
When called for help shortly before the accident, the container ship’s crew explained that they had encountered a malfunction in the ship’s propulsion system. “As a result, it was unable to proceed in the intended direction and collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge”, Singapore port authorities said on Tuesday. CCTV footage shows the container ship’s lights going out twice within minutes of the crash and smoke being seen around the ship.
The Dally According to Singaporean authorities, the maneuver was intended to slow down the ship. American authorities have repeatedly said there is not “no clue” Indicates a terrorist act.
Experts have already expressed doubts about the strength of the bridge, several arches of which have been destroyed along great lengths. If a container ship has a strong inertial force, especially with its cargo, “The extent of damage to the bridge superstructure seems disproportionate to the cause”Agence France-Presse commented Professor Toby Mottram, a structural expert at the British University of Warwick.
Governor of Maryland shortly after the bridge collapsed A state of emergency was declared and said: “We are working with a multi-agency team to rapidly deploy the Biden administration’s federal resources. » There was sea traffic “Suspended till further notice” in Baltimore. The port is one of the largest in the United States.
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Rescue operations and search for victims are given priority. Emergency services are also monitoring the possibility of an oil leak. After all, the authorities are already preparing for the significant economic consequences of cutting the bridge, a critical highway axis on the Atlantic coast of the United States, a country where truck transport plays an essential role.
Updated on March 26th at 5:30 pm: Contrary to what Agence France-Presse had previously reported, the ship did not sink after the accident.
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