Around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed when a cargo ship lost power and crashed into it. Officials were able to prevent cars from driving onto the bridge just before the accident, but eight construction workers remained on the structure and plummeted into the river below. Here’s how the events unfolded.
About 12:45 a.m.
The Dali, a Singaporean-flagged cargo ship, leaves the dock in Baltimore, moving through the Patapsco River.
Tug boats, which are routinely used at the Port of Baltimore to help get vehicles out of the docking station, were already cut loose when the Dali’s pilots and crew lost control of the ship. Ships are not required to have escorts through the bridge.
About 12:56 a.m.
The boat begins to make a big arc, turning toward the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
About 1:25 a.m.
The ship reaches its max speed and then loses power one minute later at 1:26 a.m. The crew on board makes a mayday call, saying a collision might be possible.
Baltimore County Executive John Olszewski said there were roughly two minutes between Dali’s mayday call to authorities and the bridge collapsing.
The crew made an effort to deploy the anchor, but it remains unclear how much progress was made, officials said.
“If it lost steering and power, then basically it’s a dead ship just being carried by the current or its own momentum,” James Mercante, the president of the New York Board of Pilot Commissioners, told CBS News.
“It would take quite a while — probably the length of five [or] six football fields — to bring that ship to a stop, even after dropping the anchors, because of its power and momentum. This is a behemoth,” Mercante said.
1:27 a.m.
After receiving the mayday call from the Dali, officials ask police to block traffic on either side of the bridge, 911 records show. “There’s a ship approaching that just lost all their steering,” the dispatcher says. “So until you get that under control, we got to stop all traffic.”
Two emergency responders say thay have each stopped traffic on the north and south sides of the bridge.
1:28 a.m.
The 911 records show concern was raised for a crew working on the bridge. “I’m not sure if there’s a crew up there, you might want to notify whoever the foreman is, see if we can get them off the bridge temporarily,” someone on the call says.
1:29 a.m.
The boat starts to lose speed at around 1:29 a.m. and soon, it hits a column holding up the bridge.
Someone on the 911 call alerts the dispatcher that the whole bridge has collapsed. Emergency responders from Maryland Transportation Authority Police confirm they have held all traffic from entering the bridge.
Tuesday morning
After the collapse, a search and rescue effort begins for the eight construction workers who were on the bridge. They worked for Brawner Builders and were filling potholes on the bridge.
Several agencies, including the FBI, sent dive teams into the water for the search.
The FBI also announced that there is “no specific or credible information to suggest there are ties to terrorism in this incident.”
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy the agency is leading the investigation, but focus remains on the people and families, saying “the rest can wait” and there wasn’t a lot of information she could share at the time.
10 a.m.
Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld announced in a news conference that two of the construction workers were recovered.
One was unhurt and the other was treated at University of Maryland Medical Center and has been discharged, according to CBS Baltimore.
Around 3:30 p.m.
At a news conference, Maryland Governor Wes Moore says the search and rescue operation was still underway.
Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg says the administration will work with NTSB and the Coast Guard on the investigation into what happened and reiterated what President Biden said at an earlier news conference: the federal government will provide all the support needed to fix the bridge.
7:30 p.m.
Search and rescue operations were suspended and officials transitioned to recovery efforts, with six of the construction workers still missing and presumed dead.
The men, all in their 30s and 40s, are from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, according to CBS Baltimore’s partners at The Baltimore Banner. They have spouses and children and were described as “hard-working, humble men,” by an employee at the construction company.
One of the missing was identified as by thee nonprofit organization CASA as Miguel Luna, who is originally from El Salvador. He is a husband and father of three, who lived in Maryland for 19 years.
Honduras’ Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Antonio García said one of the missing workers, Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, was from Honduras, the The Associated Press reports.
Guatemala’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said two of the missing workers are from Guatemala. The Mexican Embassy in Washington also confirmed there were Mexicans among the six missing.
A vigil was held for the workers on Tuesday night.
Divers were due back in the water on Wednesday.
Source Agencies
