The governor of Maryland has said Baltimore has “a very long road ahead” following the city’s bridge collapse – as it was revealed all the crew on board the ship that crashed into it are in “good health”.
Governor Wes Moore’s comments came as he spoke about the clean-up operation following the Francis Scott Key bridge disasterduring a news conference on Thursday.
He offered a rallying cry to the city and said that with “all speed and safety” officials planned to rebuild the structure.
The governor added: “I’m calling on everyone to do their part – in this game, no one gets to sit on the sidelines. We need every single Baltimorer and every single Marylander to help us.”
It comes after the Dali, a 300m (985ft) cargo ship, struck one of the bridge’s supports, causing it to break and fall into the water.
The vessel was headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, at the time, according to data from Marine Traffic.
Officials from across different levels of the US government are currently attempting to raise funds to rebuild the bridge, the governor added.
Britannia, the insurer of the Dali, is also working with the vessel’s owner and US authorities on the investigation into what happened.
HOW DID THE BALTIMORE BRIDGE COLLAPSE UNFOLD?
Here we take a look at an update timeline of the collapse on Tuesday 26 March from the NTSB.
• 12.39am: The ship departed from Seagirt Marine Terminal.
• 1.07am: The ship had entered the Fort McHenry Channel.
• 1.24am: The ship was on a heading underway on a true heading of approx. 141 degrees at a speed of 8 knots / 9.2mph
• 1.24.59am: Numerous audible alarms were recorded on the ship’s bridge audio. At around the same time, VDR sensor data ceased recording, but it still picked up audio using the redundant power source.
• 1.26.02am: VDR resumed recording sensor data. Steering commands and rudder orders were recorded on the audio at this time.
• 1.26.39am: The ship’s pilot made a general very high frequency (VHF) radio call for tugs in the vicinity to assist. At the same time the pilot association dispatcher phoned the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) duty officer regarding the blackout.
• 1.27.04am: The pilot ordered the Dali to drop the port anchor and ordered additional steering commands.
• 1.27.25am: The pilot issued a radio call over the VHF radio, reporting that the Dali had lost all power and was approaching the bridge. MDTA data shows that their duty officer radioed two of their units on each side of the bridge to close traffic. All lanes were then shut down by MDTA.
• 1.29am: The ship’s speed over ground was just under 7 knots / 8pmh.
• 1.29.33am: The VDR audio recorded sounds consistent with the collision of the bridge, and MDTA dash cameras show the bridge lights extinguishing.
• 1.29.39am: The pilot reported the bridge down over the VFH radio to the Coast Guard.
Meanwhile, of the 21 crew members, 20 are said to be Indian nationals, according to the country’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal.
Advertisement
He said: “Our information is that there are 21 crew members, of which 20 are Indians. All of them are in good shape, good health.
“One of them got injured slightly, needed to have some stitches. The stitches have been given, and he’s then gone back to the ship. Our embassy is in close touch with the Indians, onboard and also with local authorities in this matter.”
It comes after authorities said a pilot on board the vessel tried to swing it clear of the bridge by dropping its port anchor to pivot it away.
The pilot and a second senior member of staff on board at the time are to be interviewed by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Thursday.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:59
CCTV shows the vessel losing power, start smoking and eventually hitting the bridge
The US Coast Guard also confirmed the container ship’s engines had undergone routine maintenance while in the Baltimore port.
Four other people are still missing, presumed dead.
They are all construction workers who were said to be working in the middle section of the bridge, according to Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Brawner Builders.
Colonel Roland L. Butler Jr, from Maryland State Police, said further efforts to recover remains had been suspended because of the increasingly treacherous conditions.
Officials said the recovery mission is now a salvage operation because it was no longer safe for divers to navigate or operate around the debris and concrete in the port.
Police have said sonar information has led officials to believe vehicles still trapped underwater are encased in concrete and parts of the bridge that crashed down following the collision.
A well-known Iraqi social media influencer has reportedly been shot dead in her car by a gunman on a motorbike.
Om Fahad, whose real name is Ghufran Sawadi, was killed outside her home in Baghdad’s Zayouna district on Friday, according to the AFP news agency, citing security officials.
It appears the unidentified attacker pretended to be delivering food to the victim, one security source said.
Om Fahad, who has nearly half a million TikTok followers, became famous for posting light-hearted videos where she dances to Iraqi music.
TikTok
This content is provided by TikTok, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable TikTok cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to TikTok cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow TikTok cookies for this session only.
Six days ago, she shared footage of herself driving in a car and also posing in front of a mirror. They have each been watched hundreds of thousands of times.
The influencer was sentenced to six months in prison in February last year for sharing videos that a court ruled contained “indecent speech that undermines modesty and public morality”.
TikTok
This content is provided by TikTok, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable TikTok cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to TikTok cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow TikTok cookies for this session only.
A campaign was launched in 2023 by the Iraqi government to clamp down on social media content which broke the country’s “morals and traditions”.
The interior ministry set up a committee to look for “offensive” clips on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, with several influencers being arrested.
“This type of content is no less dangerous than organised crime,” the ministry declared in a promotional video which asked the public to help by reporting such content.
Advertisement
“It is one of the causes of the destruction of the Iraqi family and society.”
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
In 2018, gunmen in Baghdad shot dead Tara Fares, who was a model and influencer.
After years of war and sectarian conflict following the 2003 US invasion that overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraq has returned to some semblance of normality despite sporadic violence, political instability and corruption.
But civil liberties, particularly among women and sexual minorities, are still constrained in a conservative and male-dominated society.
The family of a missing high school student who may have been the first victim of a suspected serial killer in Mexico City have protested at the site where bones were found last week.
The bones were discovered with the belongings of at least six women, police said, and Amairany Roblero’s relatives have been told that evidence was found relating to her 2012 disappearance.
Ms Roblero was 18 when she vanished and, as is often the case in Mexico, her family was left to investigate her disappearance with little help from prosecutors.
Family friend Alejandra Jimenez said: “The prosecutors had the case file but they didn’t ever give any results to her parents.”
Instead, her parents printed flyers and gave them out near her school – the last place she was seen – but they had “nothing, nowhere to start, nor any directions to the end”, Ms Jimenez added.
A suspect, identified only by his first name, Miguel, was detained by neighbours and police last week after he is alleged to have killed a seventh young woman.
He is accused of waiting for a woman to leave her apartment and then rushing inside to sexually abuse and strangle her 17-year-old daughter.
More on Mexico
Related Topics:
The woman returned to the apartment to see the suspect leaving and she was slashed across her neck before he ran off.
She survived but her daughter died.
Investigators searched a room rented by the suspect and found bones, mobile phones and ID cards belonging to several women in the same block, thought to be mementos.
Miguel is awaiting trial on charges of murder and attempted murder relating to the most recent victims.
City prosecutor Ulises Lara insisted the suspect was difficult to catch because “he showed no signs of violent or aggressive behaviour in his daily life”.
Ms Roblero’s family and friends were not accepting this, however.
“They (authorities) have all the means to look for missing people,” Ms Jimenez said. “Instead of focusing on their political campaigns, they should help all the women who are looking for their children.”
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Juan Carlos Gutierrez, a lawyer representing the family of another victim, was also frustrated, asking why no investigation had never been launched in that case, despite missing person reports being filed in 2015.
Ms Jimenez said Ms Roblero’s family had not been told which of the items or remains in the apartment had been linked to her, adding: “This is wearing her parents down physically, mentally.”
Some 2,580 women were murdered in Mexico in 2023, according to the country’s National Public Security System but poorly funded and badly trained prosecutors have failed to stop serial killers over the years.
In 2021 a serial killer in Mexico City killed 19 people but their bodies were only found, buried at his house, after the wife of a police commander became one of the victims.
In 2018 another serial killer in Mexico City murdered at least 10 women and was only stopped after he was seen pushing a dismembered body down the street in a pram.