WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — Virginia’s governor and D.C.’s mayor said the state and city were ready to provide resources to Maryland following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore Tuesday.
The container ship Dali hit the bridge, bringing it down. Several people fell into the Patapsco River. Crews rescued some. By late afternoon, six construction workers who were on the bridge at the time it collapsed still were missing. Search teams were looking for them. The company that employed them said that they were presumed dead based on the river’s depth and the length of time that had passed since they fell into it.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin said emergency management resources and service were available for Maryland.
Youngkin noted that the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) was coordinating with the Maryland Department of Transportation to ensure that signage in both states was uniform.
The governor also said the Port of Virginia and Port of Maryland were working closely, with ocean carrier traffic from Maryland being diverted to Virginia, helping to reduce maritime traffic in the Baltimore area and assisting in the flow of trade.
“We have our first ocean carrier that was supposed to be heading to Baltimore making a stop in Virginia and unloading all of their Baltimore cargo here,” Youngkin said. “We’ve got capacity to do it, and I think that’s really important.”
Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington D.C. said on X Tuesday morning that she reached out to Mayor Brandon Scott and that the District stood “ready to support Baltimore in these difficult days ahead.”
Aldi, which is owned by Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and managed by Synergy Group, was carrying several thousand shipping containers when it hit one of the Key Bridge’s supports around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. The crew, consisting of 22 people, was able to issue a mayday call just before the collision. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said the notification gave authorities enough time to limit traffic on the bridge before impact.
