The United States government awarded the state of Maryland an initial $60 million in emergency funds on Friday to clear debris and begin rebuilding the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, an extraordinarily fast disbursement after such a disaster.
The bridge came tumbling down early on Tuesday after a massive cargo freighter that had lost power ploughed into the structure in Baltimore Harbour. Two bodies have been recovered and four others are missing and presumed dead, believed to be trapped in a vehicle beneath concrete and steel that fell into the water.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore had requested the $60m earlier on Friday, and within hours the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration approved the request to fund emergency work.
Such funding typically takes days, but President Joe Biden told reporters on Tuesday he directed the federal government to “move heaven and earth” to quickly rebuild the bridge, which forms part of a highway looping around Baltimore.
Moore told a press conference the top priority was to recover the missing construction workers who were conducting repairs on the bridge when the vessel known as the Dali struck a support column around 1:30am on Tuesday. Officials hope to clear the channel to resume shipping operations; tend to workers, families and first responders affected by the tragedy; and rebuild the bridge.
But first, a team of experts must assess how to remove the vessel, loaded with thousands of con-tainers and trapped by bridge debris. The US Army Corps of Engineers was bringing in the largest crane on the Eastern Seaboard to remove pieces of bridge, Moore said.—APP
