‘Heroes’: Calls from sailors across India saved lives as US bridge collapses, governor says

Maryland’s governor said the distress call stopped traffic on some roads.

A container ship hit a bridge in Baltimore, USA, causing the bridge to almost completely collapse. Cars and people fell into the river. The crew on the ship were all Indians. This was confirmed by Maersk Line, which chartered a Singapore-flagged container ship, the Dali.

Several vehicles and nearly 20 people are believed to have fallen into the Patapsco River after the 300-meter-long vessel hit one of the bridge’s legs, AFP reported. The ship has a crew of 22, all Indians. A report citing Synergy Marine Group, which manages the Dali, said all crew members were accounted for and no one was injured.

Video showed the ship’s lights going out before it hit a section of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and part of the bridge collapsed on the ship.

Maryland’s governor said the ship, traveling at a “rapid” speed of eight knots (nine miles per hour), sent a distress signal shortly before colliding with a bridge pillar, which helped save lives as some road traffic could be blocked Prevent.

“These people are heroes. They saved lives last night,” AFP quoted Governor Wes Moore as saying.

The Dali hit the bridge’s pylon around 1:30 a.m. local time (11 a.m. IST) on Tuesday. Vehicles were visible on the road as part of the bridge deformed and crashed, with a third section cantilevered upward before also falling into the water.

Rescuers said they were still searching for at least seven people and had so far rescued two.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said maintenance crews were on the bridge when the accident occurred, describing the incident as “an unimaginable tragedy… like something out of an action movie.”

“We have to think about the families and people who are affected and who we have to try to find,” he said.

Maersk said in a statement: “We are shocked by what has happened in Baltimore and our thoughts are with all those affected… We can confirm that the container ship ‘DALI’, operated by charter company Synergy Group, is being regularly operated by Maersk Chartered to carry cargo for Maersk customers. No Maersk crew or personnel on board.”

“We are closely following the investigation being conducted by the authorities and Synergy and we will do our best to keep our customers informed,” it added.