It happened in the middle of the night, little more than 12 hours ago, that a cargo ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, sending cars and people on the bridge into the icy water below.
Because I don’t watch the news, I just heard of this catastrophe and went to the internet to learn the details. In other times, we’d get that information on the six o’clock news, but by the time it comes on tonight, only those who live under a rock will hear it for the first time.
What amazes me is the amount of information already out there. Maryland’s governor had a lot to say about an ongoing investigation. He reported that around 4 PM, six people remained missing and noted that air, land, and sea resources were deployed in a search and rescue mission.
The Transportation Secretary said recovery and rebuilding would not be quick. He also said this was a “unique circumstance,” since bridges are not built to withstand a direct impact from a large sea vessel.
One of Maryland’s senators said reopening the channel was critical to the state’s economy, while a Baltimore council member noted a body had been recovered from the water. The Pentagon’s Army Corps of Engineers has already been in touch with Baltimore officials, while the NTSB chief is determining exactly how many cars and people were on the bridge when it collapsed. It also plans to review the safety inspections of the vessel involved.
Not to be outdone, the Baltimore Orioles cancelled an event scheduled for tonight.
This is just a smattering of the press releases, video clips, and headlines that I found in a 15-minute online search. Further surfing would probably provide the history of the bridge, the history of the ship involved, and anything else one wanted to know if the right key words were used.
I’m sorry this incident happened. Who isn’t? But I’ve already reached a saturation point in the coverage. And it isn’t even six o’clock.
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