Baltimore Bridge Collapse: US President Joe Biden praises Indian-origin crew for timely 'mayday' call

livemint.com:

Baltimore Bridge Collapse: United States President Joe Biden has commended the alertness of the 22 Indian-origin personnel aboard 'Dali', the ship which collided with a Baltimore bridge, for preventing more casualties with their mayday call. A container ship, Dali collided with a pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore (Maryland) around 1:30 am local time on March 26. The collision caused significant damage, leading to the bridge collapsing into the Patapsco River.

However, all traffic on board the bridge was stopped in time as the 22 crew onboard the vessel sent out a 'mayday' call alerting local authorities that they had lost power on the vessel. The container ship's "mayday" call before the collision prompted a swift response from authorities, leading to the evacuation of individuals on the bridge. This quick action is credited with potentially saving lives.

However, six members of a nighttime construction crew working on the bridge are missing and presumed dead. Efforts to locate their bodies are ongoing. "Personnel onboard the ship were able to alert the Maryland Department of Transportation that they had lost control of their vessel.

As a result, local authorities were able to close the bridge to traffic before the bridge was struck, which undoubtedly saved lives," Biden said during his comments at the White House. Maryland Governor Wes Moore also said the crew's quick alert had saved lives. "These people are heroes.

We're thankful that between the Mayday and the collapse we had officials who were able to begin to stop the flow of traffic. These people are heroes. They saved lives last night," Moore told AFP.