Over break a traumatizing event happened in Baltimore Maryland. On March 30, 2024, a cargo ship crashed into the Baltimore, Francis Scott Key Bridge. The massive cargo ship rammed into one of the side pieces which caused the bridge to immediately collapse, and killed six construction workers that were working the bridge at the spot of the crash. A day after the crash happened the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) walked upon the ship to assess the damages and reasoning for the wreck. The safety board assessed the electronic computer system to figure out what might have caused the crash, while all of this was happening divers were sent out to try and recover the bodies from the boat, and some of the bodies from the construction crew who was on the bridge at the time of the wreck.

     Here is what the NTSB knows. The operators of the cargo ship alerted the bridge before the crash, the vessel claimed that they lost power to the boat. “The boat was 985 feet long, and the boat was traveling at nine miles per hour when it struck the 1.6-mile long bridge,  it caused the span of the bridge to break and it fell into the water almost immediately. On the bridge at the time of the crash,” according to Ben Finley and James Pollard of APNews.com, there were eight construction workers that were filling potholes when the bridge collapsed; two of the workers were rescued right after the crash. The divers recovered two more bodies but four more bodies were uncovered and all were presumed to be deceased. 

     The U.S. Coast Guard said on Wednesday the cargo ship went through the routine checking processes in the port before it descended for its destination. According to APnews.com. The “Dali” which is the name of the vessel had a problem last June in Chile as its “electric propulsion and auxiliary machine” according to npr.org had a problem reported in the vessel, but in September the United States Coast Guard gave an examination to the vessel and it passed the standard examinations. “Given the vessel’s massive weight, it struck the bridge support with significant force,” said Roberto Leon, he also said,“ The post can resist the impact by bending, but it cannot absorb the energy brought by such a massive ship.” After the crash, it was determined to have been an accident and not caused by any purposeful harm or actions.

     Searchers recovered the bodies of four of the six workers. Thursday they recovered 35-year-old Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes and 26-year-old Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera on Wednesday. They were found in a white pickup truck that was found 25 feet deep under the bridge. The workers were from Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. The ship in the crash was owned by a Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private Ltd according to Apnews.com. All the members aboard the vessel were all accounted for and were in no harm after the horrific accident. The wreck could have been worse, but the crew on the boat warned authorities ahead of time and they were able to clear the road except for the workers.