The reopening of the US port of Baltimore will be delayed, despite efforts to clear the area where the bridge collapsed Francis Scott Key, In a second phase, search for the bodies of four workers latin americans presumed dead, according to authorities.
With the arrival of two cranes, a complex operation was deployed to remove steel debris from the bridge, which collapsed on Tuesday, interrupting access to the port.
During the incident, eight Latin American workers were carrying out road repairs; two were rescued and six are considered deceased. After two bodies were found on Wednesday, the search for the remaining ones was postponed due to security risks, local authorities announced.
The plan is to remove the debris and then search for the bodies.
“We are incredibly sensitive to the fact that this place is also the resting place of four parents, four siblings and four children”said White House advisor Tom Pérez.
The authorities were warned of the collision a few minutes before and cut off traffic on the bridge, but eight construction workers who were filling potholes in the structure fell into the void.
Local residents attended a vigil in a nearby park Thursday morning, local press reported, and the Baltimore City Hall launched a fundraiser to support the families of the victims.
“We are wholeheartedly with the families”said the governor of Maryland, Wes Moore. “We are very sorry for this tragedy,” he added.
He asked for patience, because “this (reconstruction) work is not going to take hours, days, or weeks.” “We have a long road ahead of us.”
The reopening of the port is a priority for the government. “We are moving heaven and earth” to make it operational again, Pérez stated.
The Federal Highway Administration undertook to provide an initial amount of 60 million dollars requested by Maryland for what Moore called “immediate response efforts and to lay the groundwork for a rapid recovery.”
“The federal government is committed to providing all the resources necessary to rebuild the bridge,” the agency’s administrator reported in a statement. Shailen Bhatt.
The disaster could lead to the largest marine insurance payout to date, according to the head of insurance giant Lloyd’s of London. Bruce Carnegie-Brown.
“It is a very substantial loss, potentially the largest maritime insured loss“, said to CNBC.
The closure of the port also worries the local economy, since 140,000 jobs They depend on port activity, and affect the national supply chain in general.
Baltimore is the nation’s largest vehicle handling port, including automobiles and heavy farm machinery, according to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg. Between 100 and 200 million dollars in value pass through it daily.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will accept additional cargo to help mitigate the impact on the supply chain.
(With information from AFP and EFE)
