The search for six persons has been suspended after a packed cargo ship rammed into a Baltimore bridge, causing it to collapse and blocking one of the busiest US commercial harbours.
According to the US Coast Guard, Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath, he told a press conference that
“based on the length of time that we’ve gone in this search, the extensive search efforts that we put into it, the water temperature… at this point we do not believe that we’re going to find any of these individuals still alive.”
All six people were members of a night-time construction crew who were repairing potholes on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when disaster struck not long after midnight.
“We’re going away from the search and rescue portion to a recovery operation,” said Roland Butler, Maryland’s secretary of state police.
He said the temperatures and currents were making it difficult for divers to continue working underwater, but that boats would continue patrolling overnight.
Video footage showed the packed container ship slamming into one of the bridge’s supports, causing the 1977-built steel structure to collapse like a deck of cards.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore said earlier that quick thinking by authorities once the ship issued a mayday call allowed them to stop vehicles from driving onto the bridge.
“These people are heroes. They saved lives last night,” he told a press conference.
The FBI and other agencies stressed that there was no known connection to terrorism.
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