At least six people are still missing this Tuesday evening after the spectacular collapse of a highway bridge in Baltimore (United States), struck a few hours earlier by a container ship in distress.
Despite a vast deployment of rescue services by air, on land, at sea and even underwater, only two survivors were found, one of whom was seriously injured.
Read alsoBaltimore: “Electrical problem”, SOS message... what we know about the collapse of a bridge, hit by a cargo ship
It is “a terrible accident”, reacted President Joe Biden from the White House, almost twelve hours after the nighttime disaster, the results of which would have been worse if the ship, which suffered a “momentary loss of propulsion ”, had succeeded in launching a distress call.
“We will deploy whatever federal resources they need to address this emergency.”
And I mean all federal resources.
Then, we will rebuild this port together,” declared the American president, who announced that he “intends to ensure that the federal government covers the entire cost of rebuilding (the) bridge.”
The ship's managers said there were no injuries to the crew.
“All crew members, including the two pilots, have been found and no injuries have been reported,” Synergy Marine Group wrote on its website.
An investigation will have to determine how the shock caused by a single ship could destroy several arches of the metal bridge, the construction of which began in 1972 and which was inaugurated in 1977.