In the early hours of Tuesday, a MV Dali cargo ship called out for mayday. According to AP, the vessel left Baltimore Harbor to Sri Lanka when it lost power. Within minutes of the ship’s mayday call, the 985 foot long behemoth crashed at 8 knots (9 mph) into the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The bridge collapsed within seconds of the impact, presumably killing 6 people.
The Maryland Transportation Authority Police had shut down traffic northeast bound at 1:27 am. A minute later they closed the southwest bound, just seconds before impact, saving many lives. The crash itself is deemed an accident. The bridge itself will take an unknown time to rebuild. It originally took 5 years to build it. Demolition crews are clearing the wreck.
