27 mrt 2024 om 22:53 Update: 16 min. geleden
Emergency services have found two bodies of the six people missing after the bridge collapsed in the American city of Baltimore. The victims fell into the water when the bridge was hit by a freighter and collapsed.
The police chief in the state of Maryland announced the discovery of the bodies at a press conference in Baltimore on Wednesday evening.
The victims are a 35-year-old man from Baltimore and a 26-year-old man from nearby Dundalk. The two were originally from Mexico and Guatemala. Their bodies were found in a red pickup truck found nearly 25 feet deep. Divers recovered the two bodies.
The police already assumed on Tuesday evening that all six missing people were no longer alive. The missing people were all road workers carrying out road repairs and came from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
On Wednesday, the police announced that sonar images showed other vehicles underwater, but they were buried under the sunken bridge parts. Efforts to recover the bodies have been suspended for the time being because the conditions pose too many risks for rescuers.
Bystander films moment ship hits bridge in Baltimore
Ship is not a danger to the environment
The freighter Dali, which rammed the bridge, is not a danger to the environment. The ship has hazardous materials on board and they are still safely on the ship, a vice admiral of the US Coast Guard said during an earlier press conference at the White House.
The bow of the ship is on the bottom due to the large amounts of debris that ended up on the ship. Nothing seems to be leaking from the ship underwater.
There is more than 5.5 million liters of lubricating and fuel oil on board. 56 of the more than 4,700 containers also contain hazardous substances. All containers with hazardous substances are still intact on the ship. Thirteen containers were damaged in the accident and two fell off the ship.
The emergency services are investigating what is needed to float the ship again and remove it. The condition of the ship is stable, according to the vice admiral.
‘Disaster could have claimed dozens of lives’
US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said at the same press conference that the disaster could have been much worse. “This could have claimed dozens of lives.”
The minister points to several factors that ensured that the number of victims was not higher, such as the time of night, the ship’s distress call and the efforts of the emergency services.
It is now a priority for the government to reopen the blocked port and limit the consequences for freight transport. “The rebuild won’t be fast, easy or cheap, but we will get the job done,” Buttigieg said.
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