India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday (Mar 28), reacting to the Baltimore Bridge Collapse incident said that one of the Indian crew members aboard the cargo ship was slightly injured.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, while addressing a weekly press briefing, said that the remaining 19 crew members were in good health and that the embassies were in close touch with them and the local authorities in the matter.
“Out of the 21 crew members, 20 are Indians. All of them are in good health. One of them is slightly injured. The stitches have been done,” Jaiswal said.
Mayday call saves lives, helps authorities halt traffic
The Singapore-flagged container ship Dali was departing from Baltimore on Tuesday (Mar 26) with a full cargo en route to Sri Lanka when it hit the concrete pier which was supporting the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
After seconds, the entire bridge fell into 50 feet of frigid water flowing below. Just before the incident, a Mayday call was issued by the ship as it warned that it had lost power and the authorities scrambled to close traffic movement on the bridge to save lives.
In the CCTV footage, the ship was seen going dark twice minutes before the crash happened. After the collision, a puff of smoke was seen rising from the ship.
Two bodies recovered; retrieval efforts suspended
Meanwhile, divers on Wednesday (Mar 27) recovered the remains of two of the six workers missing since the ship smashed into the bridge after being struck by a faltering cargo freighter.
The bodies, as per Reuters news agency, were found in the Patapsco River.
Maryland State Police Colonel Roland Butler confirmed that the bodies of Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Baltimore, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, of nearby Dundalk, were discovered in a red pickup truck.
The truck was submerged in about 25 feet (7.62 metres) near the mid-section of the fallen bridge.
The four other workers are still missing and are presumed dead given the length of time that has elapsed since the bridge collapse and the frigid temperatures of the waters. According to officials, the six workers also included immigrants from Honduras and El Salvador.
(With inputs from agencies)
