Bridge in Baltimore collapses after ship collision. Six people missing | USA

A bridge measuring almost three kilometers collapsed in the early hours of Tuesday in Baltimore, in the US state of Maryland, after a cargo ship collided with the structure. Six people are missing.

According to ABC News, the crew issued an alert to Maryland authorities at 1:30 am local time (5:30 am in Lisbon), admitting that they had lost control of the vessel due to problems with the propulsion system. At the The New York Timesit is said that the ship had already registered problems with the “propulsion systems and auxiliary machinery” in an inspection carried out less than a year ago.

Several people fell into the Patapsco River following the disaster and six are still missing. Two people have already been removed from the water, one of them in serious condition. All cargo ship crew are safe.

Paul Wiedefeld, from the Maryland Department of Transportation, revealed that the missing people were workers who were repairing the bridge deck, which opened in 1977.

The President of the United States, Joe Biden, is monitoring the relief operations and is expected to head to Baltimore, a city close to the capital Washington, “as soon as possible”. Repeating information already provided by local authorities, Biden described the situation as a “terrible accident”, ruling out the hypothesis of a deliberate act.

The FBI also issued a statement stating that “there is no concrete and credible information that suggests any link to terrorism.”

The head of state also guaranteed the availability of all federal resources to help with search and rescue operations in Patapsco. Right now, rescuing the missing workers is the authorities’ “top priority.”

Biden admitted that the federal government should cover the costs of rebuilding the bridge and appealed to US congressmen to support this financial effort.

“The Francis Scott Key Bridge is vital to our economy and our quality of life. I have instructed my team to work with [o estado de] Maryland and move worlds and funds to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as quickly as possible”, he explained. “It will take time, but the people of Baltimore can count on us.”

Access to the Port of Baltimore remains blocked as debris from the bridge disrupts navigation on the Patapsco River, and a state of emergency has been declared in Maryland. Shipping companies that used this port are routing their ships to other port cities on the East Coast of the United States.

Baltimore is one of the largest North American ports, mainly for the transport of containers, cars and machinery. Its importance for the economy and the local community was famously portrayed in the television series The Wire.

The collapse of the bridge also impedes traffic on the I-695 highway, a variant of I-95, the main highway in the Eastern United States. The road closure will disrupt traffic in Baltimore’s industrial zone and lead to cars and trucks being diverted through the city center. The authorities admit that the situation could last for a long time.

Ship From there I had already been involved in an accident in 2016

The freighter From there, which collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge, was sailing under the Singapore flag. The vessel, built in 2015 by South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries, is owned by Grace Ocean Pte and operated by Synergy Marine Group, both based in Singapore. In the last nine years, it has been inspected 27 times.

The 300 meter long and 48 meter wide ship carried thousands of containers of goods and began a 27-day journey this Tuesday to Colombo, Sri Lanka.

But it was not the first time that the ship was involved in an accident. In 2016, the vessel collided sideways with a pier in the Belgian port of Antwerp, while beginning a journey towards the German coast. An investigation into the accident concluded that it had been caused by human error by the captain.