Just four days after a cargo ship hit the majestic Francis Scott Key in Baltimore and caused the death of six people, a new incident of this type was recorded this Saturday in the United States. It happened in Oklahoma, where
a barge collided
with one of the concrete pillars of
a bridge that crosses the Arkansas River in Oklahoma
.
As a result of this incident, the State Patrol closed South Highway 59 on Saturday around 1:25 p.m. and diverted traffic from the area, said state patrol spokeswoman Sarah Stewart. There were no reports of injuries on the road or on the barge.
The bridge, which crosses the Arkansas River where it enters the Robert S. Kerr Reservoir,
was closed for about an hour for inspection
. "US-59 is now OPEN on the Arkansas River south of Sallisaw near the Sequoyah/LeFlore county line after a barge struck the bridge," the government agency posted on X. "Engineers inspected structure and found it safe to reopen," they added.
The barge hit one of the concrete pillars of a bridge that crosses the Arkansas River in Oklahoma
It is not known at this time what caused the barge to hit the bridge.
The news came as engineers worked Saturday to lift a twisted steel section of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland after it collapsed into the Patapsco River.
That accident took place around 01:30 local time on Thursday (2:30 in Argentina), when the freighter 'Dali' collided with that bridge, one of the largest and busiest on the planet, and caused the collapse of the bridge. structure inaugurated in 1977.
The ship lost propulsion, according to the first indications, and ended up wedged against the bridge. The alert given by the ship itself allowed the entry of vehicles into the area to be stopped and lives were saved.
Video
A video, which shows the impact from the front, shows the moment in which the cargo ship loses power and its lights go out.
Two people were rescued by emergency services, but
six others died from that incident
. Regarding the nationality of the six victims, there are two Mexicans, two Guatemalans, one Honduran and one Salvadoran.
Before the collision, the crew of the container ship issued an emergency warning, which allowed vehicle circulation on the bridge to be cut off and prevent a major tragedy, according to authorities.
Singaporean company Synergy Group, which operates the ship, confirmed that none of the vessel's 22 crew members were injured.
IS