What we know about the Baltimore bridge collapse
CNN
A massive cargo ship plowed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, destroying it and plunging victims into frigid water. Here’s what we know and what’s next:
A massive cargo ship plowed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday, causing the 1.6-mile structure to crumble like a pile of toothpicks – plunging cars and people into the frigid water below. Six construction workers are presumed dead, as their bodies have not been found. Here’s what we know about the catastrophe and what’s next: Shortly before 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, a Singaporean-flagged container vessel called Dali struck one of the 47-year-old bridge’s pillars, officials said. The ship is nearly 984 feet long – the length of three football fields. At the time of the crash, the Dali weighed 95,000 gross tons – or 213 million pounds – and was chartered to carry cargo by Danish shipping giant Maersk. “Just minutes before (hitting) the bridge, there was a total blackout on the ship, meaning that the ship lost engine power and electrical power. It was a complete blackout,” said Clay Diamond, executive director and general counsel of the American Pilots Association.