Baltimore Ship Lost Power and Sent Mayday Call Just Before Bridge Disaster

Source: daily beast

‘DIRE EMERGENCY’

Officials said the call allowed them to limit traffic on the bridge just before its terrifying collapse.

Updated Mar. 26, 2024 7:20PM EDT / Published Mar. 26, 2024 4:16AM EDT



Officials said Tuesday that the container ship that crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge issued a “mayday” just before the collision, allowing bridge operators to halt traffic and potentially save lives.

Six people remained missing Tuesday afternoon after the cargo ship Dali reported losing power and struck a pillar of the bridge, sending vehicles and a group of contractors plunging into the Patapsco River.
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James Wallace, chief of the Baltimore City Fire Department, said two workers—who’d been fixing potholes on the bridge, which is used by 31,000 vehicles per day—were rescued from the frigid water. One avoided injury, and the other was hospitalized with serious injuries, he said.

That patient was discharged by Tuesday afternoon, the University of Maryland Medical Center said in a statement..........................



Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/baltimore-bridge-collapses-after-being-hit-by-cargo-ship

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The frame of the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore sits on top of the cargo ship Dali after the collapse.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty