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It took Maryland State Transit Authority police officers less than two minutes to stop traffic on the Francis Scott Key Bridge before the container ship struck a support beam, according to dispatch records.
The 984-foot Singapore-flagged ship Dali issued a mayday call on Tuesday morning after losing power while approaching the bridge, authorities said.
This call and the swift subsequent closure of the bridge by law enforcement are credited with preventing further casualties.
Archives of police radio A Broadcastify article reviewed by Business Insider shows how little time some officers had to react before the ship’s impact caused the bridge to collapse.Part of the archive is available for viewing Broadcastify’s YouTube Channel To make it easier to access.
The officers were communicating normally until about 1:27 a.m. that day, when one of them alerted a colleague to the impending danger.
“We need one person on the south side and one person on the north side. Stop all traffic on the main bridges,” the officer said. “A ship that has just lost its rudder is approaching.”
Two officers responded affirmatively within 20 seconds and said they intended to follow his instructions.
Then another police officer raised a new issue. “Are there any crew members working on the bridge right now?” he asked.
A small group of eight construction workers were repairing holes in the bridge, six of whom are now presumed dead. The six people, all Latino, were taking a meal break in or near their cars at the time of the accident. one of their colleagues told The Washington Post.
At 1:28 a.m., the officer who gave the first order directed the team to find the foreman in order to “temporarily remove him from the bridge.”
One officer said he was so obsessed with the traffic stop that when his colleague got off work, he planned to move down his lane to “get a worker on an important bridge.”
But 10 seconds later, an urgent message arrived.
“C-13s out! The whole bridge just fell!” one official said. “Starr, whoever you are, guys, the whole bridge just collapsed.”
“Do you know if all traffic is stopped?” the first officer asked.
After about 30 seconds, the officer said, “You can’t get to the other side because the bridge is down.”
At 1:30 a.m., another police officer recommended calling marine rescue services. “Ten to four, all major bridge traffic is stopped and workers are in the water,” he said.
The Dali crashed into the bridge at about 1:28 a.m., causing a span of the structure to collapse. The ship lost propulsion and the pilot was unable to navigate around the support beam.
The crew made a last ditch effort to slow the ship by dropping anchor, but to no avail. This was announced by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.
10:30pm local time, the official said The search for the six missing people has changed from a rescue mission to a search and recovery phase. The U.S. Coast Guard said the missing men were likely dead due to the extremely cold water and the length of time they were submerged.
At a press conference on Thursday, Maryland Governor Wes Moore He praised the actions of MTA police immediately before the crash, saying their actions “saved lives.”
“They’re heroes in that they can literally stop cars from coming over the bridge,” Moore said.
The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge could cause significant disruption to supply chains for multiple industries, with approximately 11.3 million vehicles using the bridge each year.
The area was hit by heavy traffic Tuesday as alternative routes – two tunnels near the city’s downtown – filled with cars and trucks, leaving residents worried they could see a glimpse of commute conditions for months. was. Reuters reported.
The Port of Baltimore is closed to ships until further notice, which could halt about $15 million worth of economic activity per day, according to experts who spoke with BI’s Dominic Reuter. .
The port is particularly important to the automotive industry and is one of the largest facilities capable of accommodating wheeled cargo such as cars and agricultural equipment.