Baltimore bridge collapse: two bodies recovered during search for victims

A former U.S. Army and Marine veteran who spoke with Fox News Digital said Thursday that the Dali cargo ship that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, leading to its collapse, was likely suffering electrical issues soon after it left the port. 

"For a vessel to have some sort of power outage would imply that there was an electrical systems issue within the ship itself," Jason Nelson said. 

Nelson, who was stationed 10 yards from the bridge at Fort McHenry during his final two years in the Army, said the ship could clearly be seen moving in from the southwest and making a starboard, turning toward the bridge and then eventually drifting into the pylon. 

This is an excerpt of a story by Bradford Betz. Click here to read the full report.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore provided an update Thursday evening on recovery efforts in the wake of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, saying there was a "long road ahead." 

Sharing the podium with Democratic Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, Moore said, "there is nothing that we will not do" to ensure a swift and proper conclusion. 

The Democratic governor thanked the Biden administration for greenlighting his request for $60 million in federal aid to jumpstart recovery efforts. 

Gov. Moore said it was imperative to clear the channel and open vessel traffic to the port because "the health of the Maryland economy and the national economy depends on it." 

This is an excerpt of a story by Bradford Betz. Click here to get the full report.

Before the first pitch at Camden Yards to kick off the 2024 MLB season, the Baltimore Orioles honored the Maryland Transportation Authority for its quick response after the cargo ship crash that destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The vessel struck the Baltimore bridge, named after the man who wrote America's national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner," March 26.

Two bodies have been recovered during the search for victims after the bridge collapsed. 

As Camden Yards waited for the reigning AL East-champion Orioles to take the field, members of the MDTA were saluted as they stood behind home plate. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore stood next to them applauding along with the crowd.

Sgt. Paul Pastorek, K9 Unit, a 13-year veteran; Cpl. Jeremy Herbert, Central Command Detachment, a 19-year veteran; and Officer Garry Kirts, Central Command Detachment, a six-year veteran, were saluted in the third inning.

This is an excerpt of a story by Scott Thompson. Click here to read the full report.

The Biden administration on Thursday announced $60 million for emergency aid to help fast-track recovery efforts in the wake of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore.

The federal aid will help pay for debris removal and other initial costs. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s administration made the request earlier Thursday, as he warned of a “very long road ahead.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) approved the funds within hours, saying they would serve as a down payment toward initial costs. Additional Emergency Relief program funding will be made available as the work continues.

“No one will ever forget the shocking images of a container vessel striking the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing its collapse and the tragic loss of six people,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. 

“The federal emergency funds we’re releasing today will help Maryland begin urgent work, to be followed by further resources as recovery and rebuilding efforts progress. President Biden has been clear: the federal government will do everything it takes to help rebuild the bridge and get the Port of Baltimore back open.”  

Former two-term Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan says he's urging fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill to support federal funding to rebuild the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge.

"I’m going to push them as hard as I can. I’ve already called a couple of Republican Senate leaders and started working them," Hogan, who's running for a Democratic-controlled open Senate seat in his home state, emphasized in a Fox News Digital interview on Thursday.

Six construction workers were presumed killed when the bridge collapsed on Tuesday moments after a large container ship slammed into a pillar. 

President Biden quickly pledged that the federal government would pay the "entire cost" to rebuild the near half-century old structure. Much of the funding will come from the Federal Highway Administration’s emergency fund, which needs to be replenished on an annual basis.

This is an excerpt of a story by Paul Steinhauser. Click here to read the full report.

The Port of Baltimore says federal, state, and local partners are working together to rebuild after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed earlier this week.

The Singaporean-flagged cargo ship, the Dali, slammed into the bridge early Tuesday, leading the entire span to collapse into the Patapsco River.

The collapse is expected to create a logistical nightmare, shutting down ship traffic at the Port of Baltimore and snarling cargo and commuter traffic.

President Biden said he expects the federal government to pick up the entire rebuilding cost. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Thursday asked the Biden administration for $60 million to pay for debris recovery and other initial costs.  

The administration of Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Thursday requested $60 million in emergency federal funding to fast-track recovery efforts in the Baltimore bridge collapse.

The Democratic governor said the funding was needed to "lay the foundation for a rapid recovery."

President Biden has signaled the federal government would pay the full cost of rebuilding the bridge, but those comments were undermined by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who said Wednesday that the recovery would be paid for by insurance payouts.

Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld said the state’s budget for emergencies is “limited and unable to fund an emergency of this magnitude.”

A “quick release” of emergency funds, Wiedefeld said, would allow the state “to proceed expeditiously with debris removal, demolition, traffic operations restoration, and emergency construction to this vital link on the National Highway System in Baltimore, Maryland.”

Gov. Moore has promised that "the best minds in the world" were working on plans to clear the debris, move the cargo ship that rammed into the bridge from the channel, recover the bodies of the four remaining workers presumed dead, and investigate what went wrong.

"Government is working hand in hand with industry to investigate the area, including the wreck, and remove the ship," Moore said.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers tells Fox News Digital that it is "too early" to provide an estimate on when the wreckage of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge will be removed from the Patapsco River to allow marine traffic to flow freely into the Port of Baltimore again.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says the military branch has been tasked, along with the Coast Guard, to clean up the area as part of a rebuilding process that he warned Wednesday will "not be quick or easy or cheap." 

"It is too early to provide timeline estimates on channel clearance and reopening," a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "Our priority remains providing support to the U.S. Coast Guard and our state and local partners’ recovery efforts at this time." 

The Army Corps of Engineers says its Baltimore District has activated its emergency operations center, which clears the way for "more than 1,100 engineering, construction, contracting and operations specialists to provide support to local, state and federal agencies" responding to Tuesday’s bridge collapse. 

The branch says it will provide underwater assessment capabilities, structural engineering support – including "certified bridge safety inspectors and urban search and rescue structural technical specialists" – and removal of debris in the waterway that could pose threats to navigation. 

The massive container ship that struck and collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday would be roughly the size of the Eiffel Tower if stood upright.

The Singapore-flagged Dali is also about two-thirds the size of the Empire State Building. It can carry the equivalent of almost 10,000 standard-sized metal shipping containers, and at the time of the accident was carrying nearly 4,700 containers, the Associated Press reported.

Even so, the Dali is dwarfed by the world's largest container ships, which can transport more than 24,000 containers. There are environmental and economic advantages to operating giant container ships, but their sheer size and weight make them difficult to maneuver and stop — especially when something goes wrong.

The Dali measures 984 feet long and weighs approximately 95,000 tons when empty. It's total capacity is 10,000 20-foot containers.

Experts have suggested Baltimore's Key Bridge was not designed to handle the force of an impact from modern shipping vessels, which would explain its shocking collapse.  

The Associated Press contributed to this update.

Scott Redler, the chief strategist for T3 Trading Group, joined "Cavuto: Coast to Coast" on Wednesday to discuss how Black Swan events like the Baltimore bridge collapse impact markets.

Redler said that the Francis Scott Key Bridge disaster has not affected markets in the way some might expect following an emotional tragedy.

"What you want to do is you want to see the reaction to an event that you didn't think could happen, or a black swan or, just out of the blue, and what the market does is it trades and it lets you know, potentially, does it mean something or not mean something," he told host Neil Cavuto.

Some unforeseen events, like the war between Russia and Ukraine or the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel create temporary market volatility, based on material changes or even emotions, Redler explained.

"It's up to the market participant to know their timeframe on whether or not they need to change their investment strategy or if there are ways to — I hate to say it, unfortunately, to make some money from the misallocations of that day's over-emotion. And as traders, that's what we look for, to see if there's over-emotion.

"The Baltimore event, as tragic as it is, the market kind of ignored it." 

The recent collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland has brought attention to other past instances of bridge incidents stemming from vessel hits.

The Key Bridge, which crossed the Patapsco River near Baltimore, sustained a hit from a large container ship early Tuesday morning, causing it to collapse. The incident left six missing people presumed dead and is expected to impact the economy. 

Past examples of bridge collapses include the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, Interstate 40 bridge, and the Big Bayo Canot. 

The original Sunshine Skyway Bridge experienced a partial collapse that took the lives of nearly three dozen people over 43 years ago. Their ages reportedly ranged from 7 months old to 92 years old.

That incident occurred after a massive ship ran into part of the bridge that goes over Florida’s Tampa Bay during a severe storm, according to the Tampa Bay Times. 

Another incident is the 2002 collapse of the Interstate 40 bridge near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma. 

In a report, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) linked the collapse to a towboat that "veered off course and rammed" into the bridge. The roughly 100-foot towboat had been maneuvering a pair of barges. 

The collapse, which caused 14 deaths, affected about 500 feet of the bridge. Nearly 60 local, state and federal agencies were involved in responding to the incident.

The Big Bayou Canot bridge incident caused the deaths of 47 people. It took place in 1993.

All of those individuals had been traveling on an Amtrak train that partially fell into the water from the bridge near Mobile, Alabama, according to The Associated Press.

The railroad bridge became misaligned due to a hit from barges being transported by a towboat called Mauvilla. Fog and other factors contributed to the collision, according to an NTSB report published online by Wikimedia. 

Multiple train cars, including two for passengers and ones for baggage and sleeping, derailed in the incident, the report said. It has been called one of Amtrak’s worst-ever rail accidents in terms of fatalities, according to the AP.

FOX Business' Aislinn Murphy contributed to this update.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released several photos from its investigation aboard the cargo vessel Dali, which struck and collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday.

The images show investigators surveying damage to the ship and launching a drone. Several NTSB officials are pictured viewing the collapsed bridge from different angles on the cargo ship.

At a press conference Wednesday, NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said the Singaporean-flagged cargo ship had been carrying 56 containers of hazardous materials on board, including corrosive flammable cells, lithium ion batteries, and other hazardous materials.

Some of the hazmat containers were breached, and a sheen was identified in the water that will be dealt with by the authorities.

Homendy said the voyage data recorder (VDR) has been recovered. NTSB investigator Marcel Muise said the VDR contains information from midnight to approximately 6 a.m.

Homendy said the investigation would be a “massive undertaking” that is expected to take one to two years. She added that the NTSB will not hesitate to issue urgent safety recommendations during that time frame. A preliminary report is expected in only two to four weeks.

Fox News Digital's Bradford Betz contributed to this update.

When the cargo ship Dali lost power and propulsion as it headed out of Baltimore Harbor, the pilot issued several commands in an attempt to stop the vessel before it hit Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Audio recordings collected from the ship's Voyage Data Recorder showed the pilot was heard calling for tugboat assistance several minutes before the crash. He also ordered the crew to drop anchor and pull the rudder, according to NTSB investigators.

Safety board investigator Marcel Muise said data showed the Dali, measuring about three football fields in length and piled high with shipping containers, was moving at about 8 miles per hour when it struck a bridge abutment.

Clay Diamond, executive director of the American Pilots Association, told CNN the Dali pilot took all appropriate steps once he lost control of the ship, "but it happened so quickly and with so little lead time, neither one of those maneuvers were enough." 

The ship was too large and too close to prevent the collision that destroyed the bridge.

Reuters contributed to this update.

Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore shows that "migrants go out and do risky jobs at midnight" and as a result they "do not deserve to be treated as they are by certain insensitive, irresponsible politicians in the United States." 

López Obrador made the remark as Maryland State Police identified one of the two bodies removed from the Patapsco River on Wednesday as 35-year-old Alejandro Hernández Fuentes, originally from Mexico. 

"Based upon the conditions, we're now moving from a recovery mode to a salvage operation because of the superstructure surrounding what we believe are the vehicles and the amount of concrete and debris; divers are no longer able to safely navigate or operate around that in the areas around this wreckage," Col. Roland L. Butler Jr., superintendent of Maryland State Police, said during a press conference Wednesday night. 

Guatemalan Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, was identified by Butler as the other body removed from the water. Divers had found a red pickup truck submerged under approximately 25 feet of water in the middle span of the bridge and discovered the two bodies trapped inside. 

Four other construction workers are presumed dead following Tuesday’s disaster, in which the cargo ship Dali slammed into one of the bridge’s pillars in the early morning hours, causing the span to collapse. They are also from Guatemala and El Salvador. 

Another victim has been identified as 38-year-old Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, who was the youngest of eight siblings from Azacualpa, a rural mountainous area in northwestern Honduras, according to The Associated Press. 

Moments before the Singapore cargo ship Dali crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, a pilot made a radio call for tugboats.

Tugboats are small ships that assist larger vessels by pushing or pulling them with direct contact or a tow line. Their purpose is to guide ships into and out of harbors to prevent accidents like the Baltimore bridge collapse.

So why didn't tugboats help on Tuesday, when the Dali struck a support pier on the Key Bridge, causing it to fall into the Patapsco River? 

Cargo ships entering and exiting the Baltimore harbor are guided by tugboats that flank the ship on each side while a Chesapeake Bay pilot on board assist the ship's bridge and captain with navigational commands, according to the Baltimore Banner.

"Ship tracking data from marinetraffic.com showed the Dali was headed toward the Key Bridge unaccompanied when it crashed into the bridge early Tuesday morning," the paper reported. 

"Two tugboats, both operated by McAllister Towing and Transportation, helped the Dali out of the dock between 12:30 a.m. and 1 a.m. Those tugboats left the cargo ship around 1:09 a.m. The Dali begins veering right and away from the main channel at 1:25 a.m., four minutes and 23 seconds before it struck the bridge." 

Those tugboats, the Eric McAllister and Bridget McAllister, were then the first to respond after the Dali crashed into the bridge, ship tracking data showed, according to the Baltimore Banner. 

It is common practice for tugboats to break away before the bridge. But on Tuesday, the Dali lost power and propulsion shortly after they did so, and by then it was too late to stop the accident. 

Carnival Corporation said Wednesday the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Maryland could have a negative effect on its full-year earnings.

The cruise line operator told shareholders it could see a "current estimated impact of up to $10 million on both adjusted EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization] and adjusted net income for the full year 2024."

The bridge fell into the Patapsco River near Baltimore early Tuesday morning. Its collapse stemmed from a large container ship striking one of its support columns.

The nearby Port of Baltimore has experienced some disruptions due to the Francis Scott Key Bridge incident, halting vessel traffic "until further notice" though it said Tuesday. "Trucks are being processed within our marine terminals" still. 

Carnival, which sails out of the Baltimore port for certain cruises, said it did not incorporate the $10 million estimated impact in its 2024 outlook "given the timing of yesterday’s event in Baltimore and the temporary change in homeport." It also reported seeing "record" first quarter revenues of $5.4 billion and a smaller net loss of $214 million.

Just a day earlier, the company temporarily switched the homeport of its Carnival Legend ship to Norfolk, Virginia, amid the ongoing situation in Baltimore.

"Fortunately, our teams quickly secured a temporary homeport in Norfolk for as long as it's needed, which should help to minimize operational changes," CEO Josh Weinstein told analysts and investors on Tuesday. "We look forward to getting back to our home in Baltimore as soon as possible."

FOX Business' Aislinn Murphy contributed to this update.

It didn't take long for The Washington Post to revisit the history of "controversial poet" Francis Scott Key, whose namesake bridge suffered a devastating collapse in Baltimore.

All eyes were on Charm City early Tuesday morning after a cargo ship crashed into a support beam of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Six construction workers who were on the bridge at the time are presumed dead and two were rescued from the Patapsco River. An investigation is underway. 

But roughly 24 hours later, The Post insisted Key himself was "at the center of renewed public attention" because the bridge named after him collapsed. 

"The incident has shaken Baltimore and brought Key once again to the fore," The Post wrote Wednesday.

The Post offered a biographical history lesson of Key, a lawyer famous for writing what's now known as "The Star-Spangled Banner."

But as the paper noted in its previous report about Key published in 2020 following the George Floyd riots, there was an "ugly reason" why the iconic poem wasn't chosen as the national anthem for more than 100 years.

"'The Star-Spangled Banner' did not become the national anthem until more than a century after it was written because of controversy, partly over Key’s racist views," The Post wrote. "One section of the poem’s third verse, in particular, has come under scrutiny from those who say it was intended to mock or threaten African Americans who escaped slavery to join the British forces, after being promised land in exchange for their service."

The article then printed what Key had written in the third verse, which read, "No refuge could save the hireling and slave, From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave, And The Star-Spangled Banner in triumph doth wave, O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave."

Fox News Digital's Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this update.

The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland on Tuesday raised serious questions about what safety or protective mechanisms could have been in place to prevent such a disaster.  

It is still unclear what caused a massive 985-foot long cargo vessel to apparently lose control and strike the supportive pylon, a critical part of the structure that keeps the deck of the bridge in place.

Could the bridge have been better protected to safeguard against a large vessel striking a key part of its infrastructure? Experts say the answer is not so simple.

Ron Harichandran, Ph.D., dean of the Tagliatela College of Engineering in Connecticut, told Fox News Digital that protective barriers – if they were there – may not have been enough to stop the Dali, given its sheer size and weight. The Singapore-flagged container has dead weight tonnage, or total tonnage, of nearly 117,000 tons. 

"Most of those protections systems that they have directly around the pier would probably not have been able to protect this particular incident because of the size of the cargo ship and the weight," Harichandran said. "It was just too big."

"The only thing that might have worked is if they had sort of an island around the piers and that's not done often," Harichandran added. "It basically involves filling up an area of the river and building an island, so the ship would hit the island and not the pier. That's what you would have to do if you wanted that level of protection, but obviously, that's quite expensive."

"It should really have been done at the time the bridge is built and not retrofitting it," he added. 

Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, said at a Tuesday press briefing that protective structures would be a part of the investigation into the collapse of the Maryland bridge. 

"There’s some questions about the structure of the bridge – protective structure around the bridge or around the piers to make sure there isn’t a collapse," she said, responding to a reporter’s question. "We are aware of what a structure should have. Part of our investigation will be how was this bridge constructed? It will look at the structure itself. Should there be any sort of safety improvements? All of that will be part of our investigation."

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, which was built in 1977, does not appear to have any protective barriers in place, and the pier that was struck was not surrounded by any barrier or buffer-like structures, according to photos and videos from the scene.

There are some small circular-shaped structures in the water, but it is unclear if they are barriers that serve another purpose. A spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment about whether the Baltimore bridge had a bumper system or protective barriers in place.

Fox News' Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.

The governments of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras have confirmed that their nationals are among those killed or still missing after a cargo ship slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday, causing it to fall into the Patapsco River.

At least eight people fell into the water and two were rescued. Two bodies were recovered Wednesday and four remain missing. They are presumed dead.

Guatemala’s Foreign Affairs Ministry had earlier confirmed that two of its citizens were among the missing. 

And El Salvador's foreign minister, Alexandra Hill Tinoco, posted Wednesday on X that one Salvadoran citizen, Miguel Luna, was among the missing workers.

In Mexico, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said three Mexicans were on the bridge when it fell, including one who was injured but rescued and two who were still missing. 

López Obrador did not disclose their names for privacy reasons.

According to the Mexican president, the migrants took on the risky job at midnight to highlight their dedication to finding employment in the U.S. to help boost its economy.

“This demonstrates that migrants go out and do risky jobs at midnight. And for this reason, they do not deserve to be treated as they are by certain insensitive, irresponsible politicians in the United States,” López Obrador said.

Later, Col. Roland L. Butler Jr., superintendent of Maryland State Police, announced that the bodies of two men, ages 35 and 26, had been located by divers inside a red pickup submerged in about 25 feet (7.6 meters) of water near the bridge’s middle span.

They were identified as Guatemalan Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, and 35-year-old Alejandro Hernández Fuentes, originally from Mexico.

The victims include an enterprising Honduran father and husband, according to his family.

Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, 38, was confirmed to be among those presumed to be dead. He was from Azacualpa, a rural mountainous area in northwestern Honduras along the border with Guatemala. He is survived by a wife and two children ages 17 and 5.

Federal and state investigators said Tuesday’s crash appears to have been an accident.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.