Bridge collapse in Baltimore | A first crane deployed to clear the debris

(Baltimore) The first crane was deployed Thursday in Baltimore, in the eastern United States, as part of efforts to clear debris from the collapsed bridge, with authorities warning that reopening the port, important for the American economy, will take a long time.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, used every day by tens of thousands of vehicles, collapsed like a house of cards on Tuesday, after being hit by a container ship, blocking the entrance to the port of Baltimore. The bodies of two of the six missing workers were found on Wednesday.

“We are moving heaven and earth” to get the port operational again, White House advisor Tom Perez said Thursday. “A large capacity crane ship will be on site during the day to help collect the debris,” he added in an interview with the American channel MSNBC.

Officials, however, warned that the difficulties were significant, the search for the bodies of the four men still missing having been interrupted late Wednesday because the authorities considered it too dangerous to send divers to the site of the accident .

“Emergency Assistance Fund”

The four men, all Latin American immigrants, are believed to have been killed after the Dali, a 300 meter long and 48 meter wide container ship, crashed into a bridge pier due to propulsion problems. .

These men were part of a team of eight workers working at night to repair the road. Two of them were rescued shortly after the bridge collapsed.

Area residents participated in a vigil at a nearby park Thursday morning, local media reported, while Baltimore City Hall launched a fundraiser to support the victims’ families.

As for reconstruction, it “is not going to take hours, nor days, nor weeks”, also warned Wes Moore, governor of the state of Maryland, where Baltimore is located, referring to “a very long road ahead.” browse” before returning to normal.

Maryland asked the federal government for an initial envelope of 60 million US dollars, an appeal quickly heard by the government. The US Department of Transportation announced Thursday the “rapid release” of this amount in “emergency assistance funds” to Maryland.

“Substantial loss”

This sum should “help Maryland begin urgent work” and will be followed by other funds “as reconstruction progresses,” explained Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

“No one will ever forget the shocking images of a container ship hitting the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse and the tragic deaths of six people,” he added, in a White House statement.

After the tragedy, President Joe Biden pledged that the federal administration would cover the entire cost of rebuilding the bridge.

Due to this accident, maritime transport remains suspended, with the Port of Baltimore being the ninth largest in the country in terms of activity and generating more than 15,000 jobs.

On Thursday, the head of the Lloyd’s of London insurance market warned that compensation from insurance companies for the accident could be the highest ever paid out in maritime transport.

“This should represent a substantial loss, probably the most significant” concerning maritime transport “but not outside of our parameters”, affirmed Bruce Carnegie-Brown on the channel CNBC.