Crews at Baltimore bridge collapse continue meticulous work of removing twisted steel and concrete

BALTIMORE– As crews continued the complicated and painstaking operation of removing the steel and concrete from the fallen Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, some near the site on Easter Sunday took time to reflect on the six workers believed to have been killed. had plunged to their deaths.

As cranes periodically rotated into place and workers measured and cut the steel in preparation for lifting sections of twisted steel, the Rev. Ako Walker held a Mass in Spanish at the Sacred Heart of Jesus, about 5 miles up the Patapsco River from the collapse.

“Yes, we can rebuild a bridge, but we have to look at the way migrant workers are treated and how we can best improve their situation when they come to the United States of America,” Walker said of the men who came from Mexico. , Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador and were closing gaps.

The bridge fell early Tuesday when the crew of the cargo ship Dali lost power and control. They called a mayday, which gave police just enough time to prevent vehicles from entering the bridge, but not enough time to get a crew of eight workers off the structure.

Two workers survived, two bodies were found in a submerged pickup truck and four more men are believed dead. Weather conditions and tangled underwater debris have made it too dangerous for divers to search for their bodies.

Any portion of the bridge removed from the water will be lifted onto a barge and floated downstream to the Tradepoint Atlantic logistics center, where it will be inspected, Coast Guard Adm. Shannon Gilreath said.

Everything salvage crews do will affect what happens next and how long it will ultimately take to remove all the debris and reopen the ship canal and the blocked Baltimore harbor, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said.

It could also change the course of the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation, which Moore said is important to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

“We need answers to what happened. We need to know who should be responsible for this. And we have to make sure we hold them accountable,” Moore said on CNN on Sunday.

The crew of the Dali, which is as tall as the Eiffel Tower is high, remains on board the ship. The ship is entangled in 3,000 to 4,000 tons of debris. Most of the containers are still intact, but a few have been torn open or blown away by the falling debris.

The Dali is operated by Synergy Marine Group and owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. Danish shipping giant Maersk mapped Dali, which was on its way out of the port when it hit the bridge support pillar.

In addition to clearing the shipping channel to reopen the port, officials are trying to figure out how to rebuild the great bridge, which was completed in 1977 and carried Interstate 695 around southeastern Baltimore and was a vital link to centuries of maritime culture of the city.

It took five years to build the original bridge. President Joe Biden’s administration has pledged to pay the full cost of the reconstruction, and state and federal transportation officials said they will work as quickly as possible.

But it is not yet known exactly how long the new bridge will last. Engineers have been unable to assess the condition of the ramps and smaller bridges leading to the collapsed structure to get a good idea of ​​what needs to be done.

Congress is expected to consider relief packages to help people who lose their jobs or businesses due to the prolonged closure of the Port of Baltimore. The port handles more cars and farm equipment than any other U.S. facility.

“This is important for people in rural North Carolina, Kansas and Iowa. This is important for the global economy. And it shouldn’t be something that carries anything or any conversation around the party. We’re talking about an American tragedy for an American city,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott told CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday.

On Monday, the Small Business Administration will open a center in Dundalk, Maryland, to help small businesses get loans to help them with losses caused by the disruption of the bridge collapse.

The workers were not parishioners at the Sacred Heart of Jesus, where the pews were packed for Mass on Sunday. But the pastor, Walker, has reached out to the families because, as he said, Baltimore’s Latino community is large in number but deeply connected.

He said they were good men who worked not only for their families in the U.S., but also for relatives in the countries they came from.

Walker hopes their stories encourage people to embrace immigrant workers who want to improve their lives and grow their communities.

“We must be bridges for each other, even in these most difficult situations. Our lives should be small bridges of mercy, of hope for solidarity and of building communities,” Walker said.

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Collins reported from Columbia, South Carolina. Associated Press writers Sarah Brumfield in Washington, D.C.; Kristin M. Hall in Nashville, Tenn.; Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; and Lisa Baumann in Bellingham, Washington, contributed.