Baltimore bridge collapse: Dangerous cleanup begins as search efforts halt

Thousands of relief workers with huge crane ships moved towards Baltimore in the United States on Thursday (Mar 28) to carry out a massive cleanup, which was deemed as 'highly dangerous' and 'unprecedented' by some experts.

The clean-up was initiated after efforts to find dead bodies of people who went missing were stopped. The officials had recovered two construction workers' dead bodies from a submerged truck and four people remain missing or are presumed to be dead.

However, the divers are no longer able to operate near the mangled bridge debris which has encased submerged vehicles.

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The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed on Tuesday morning (Mar 26) after being hit by a massive cargo ship.

Several floating cranes were deployed by the US Navy, including one which can lift 1,000 tonnes. Meanwhile, the US Army Corps of Engineers said that they will send more than 1,100 engineering specialists as well as experts to start removing the debris which has crippled the Port of Baltimore.

Also Read:Biden says he commuted over Baltimore bridge by train 'many times'. The problem? It has no rail tracks!

Biden sanctions $60 million, Governor says 'very long road ahead'

Maryland Governor Wes Moore on Thursday (Mar 28) said it is a “very long road ahead" as the Biden administration sanctioned a federal aid of $60 million after the deadly collapse.

Moore said that “the best minds in the world" have been making plans to clear the debris and shift the cargo ship which had rammed into the bridge. "Government is working hand in hand with industry to investigate the area, including the wreck, and remove the ship," the governor said.

“This work is not going to take hours. This work is not going to take days. This work is not going to take weeks. We have a very long road ahead of us," Moore added.

A three-step process to clean up debris

According to the officials, a three-step effort will be made to remove the debris. The teams will first remove the massive steel trusses from the shipping channel to start one-way traffic into and out of the port again.

Second, the pieces of the bridge, which are draped across the 985-foot Dali, will be lifted and moved. After this, they will remove concrete and steel which is present on the river bed.

It is still unclear how long will the process take. However, as per the experts, the cleanup is likely to pose a monumental challenge because of frigid waters in which divers will have to cut steel beams.

Watch:Baltimore Bridge Collapse: US President Biden hails Indian crew for sounding SOS call

Meanwhile, US authorities started interviewing the personnel, which included Indian crew members, who were onboard the container ship 'Dali' and had sent the SOS.

Survivor's wife says workers were on break when bridge collapsed

The wife of one of the living construction workers, Julio Cervantes, said that the workers were on a break inside the car when the bridge collapsed.

“All of the men were on a break in their cars when the boat hit. We don't know if they were warned before the impact,” said Cervantes' wife, while speaking to NBC News.

“My husband doesn’t know how to swim. It is a miracle he survived,” she added.

(With inputs from agencies)