The governor of Maryland has said “we have a very long road ahead of us” after a cargo ship crashed into a bridge – as all crew on board were confirmed to be in “good health”.
Governor Wes Moore spoke about the clean up after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge during a news conference on Thursday.
He offered a rallying cry to his city and said that with “all speed and safety” they would rebuild the Francis Scott Key bridge but that they faced a “very long road ahead”.
He added: “I’m calling on everyone to do their part – in this game, no one gets to sit on the side lines. We need every single Baltimorer and every single Marylander to help us.”
The Dali, a 300m (985ft) vessel, struck one of the bridge’s supports, causing it to break and fall into the water.
The vessel was headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, at the time, according to data from Marine Traffic.
Now, leaders from across different levels of the US government were working together to raise the funds to rebuild the bridge, he added.
Britannia, the insurer of the Dali cargo ship, is also working with the vessel’s owner and US authorities on the investigation into the collapse of the bridge.
This satellite image shows a view of the Francis Scott Key Bridge that was struck by a container ship in Baltimore
Meanwhile, of the 21 crew members, 20 are said to be Indian nationals according to the country’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, who confirmed they were in “good health”
He said: “Our information is that there are 21 crew members, of which 20 are Indians. All of them are in good shape, good health.
“One of them got injured slightly, needed to have some stitches. The stitches have been given, and he’s then gone back to the ship. Our embassy is in close touch with the Indians, onboard and also with local authorities in this matter.”
It comes after authorities said a pilot on board the vessel tried to swing it clear of a collision by dropping its port anchor to pivot it away.
The pilot and a second on board at the time of collision will be interviewed by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Thursday.
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CCTV shows the vessel osing power, start smoking and eventually hitting the Baltimore bridge.
The US Coast Guard also confirmed the container ship’s engines had undergone routine maintenance while in the Baltimore port.
Earlier, the bodies of two victims were recovered from a red pick-up truck that was found in the Patapsco River, around 25ft deep in the water.
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Four other people are still missing – all are construction workers who were said to be working in the middle span of the bridge, according to Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Brawner Builders.
They are all presumed dead.
Colonel Roland L. Butler Jr from Maryland State Police said that further efforts to recover remains were being suspended because of the increasingly treacherous conditions.
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Officials said the recovery mission is now a salvage operation because it is no longer safe for divers to navigate or operate around the debris and concrete in the port.
Police have said sonar vehicles have led officials to believe the vehicles still trapped underwater are encased in concrete and the structures that crashed down after the collision.