WASHINGTON: Six workers who perished when a container ship struck a bridge in Maryland twenty months ago might not have died had they been alerted immediately of impending disaster, the US National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday (Nov 18).
One minute and 29 seconds elapsed between the time police were told to block bridge-bound traffic and the moment the ship struck the bridge, NTSB officials heard, as investigative findings were presented and endorsed at a public board meeting.
Had they been notified about the same time police were, “the highway workers may have had sufficient time to drive to a portion of the bridge that did not collapse”, officials said.
On Mar 26, 2024, the Dali, a 984-foot Singapore-flagged container ship, suffered a series of electrical problems and crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River in Maryland, which collapsed like a house of cards.
Six workers on the deck of the bridge, all Latin American immigrants, fell to their deaths.
The NTSB found that the “probable cause” of the disaster was loss of electrical power due to a loose signal wire connection, resulting in the vessel’s loss of propulsion and steering as it approached the bridge.
Maryland authorities had failed to conduct a vulnerability assessment of the bridge, which would have set the stage for repairs, the report said.
Source: CNA
