New video reveals first-hand look at Baltimore's Key Bridge collapse response
BALTIMORE -- A newly released body camera video from the Maryland Natural Resources Police provides a first-hand look at what first responders saw moments after the large container ship, Dali, crashed into the Key Bridge on March 26 and caused it to collapse into the Patapsco River.
Eight construction workers, who were repairing potholes on the bridge, fell into the water. Two were rescued and six were later recovered at the wreckage site.
The video shows the dramatic response as officers traveled to the wreckage site by boat. One clip shows an officer approaching the Dali and speaking with the crew.
"Is everybody OK up there? Is everybody OK? Nobody is hurt? No injury? No injury?" an officer is heard saying.
Demolition an 'important milestone'
Unified Command crews successfully used a controlled demolition Monday to break up one of the last remaining pieces of the Key Bridge that was sitting on the bow of the ship.
This was a major step forward in the journey to reopen the Port of Baltimore and clear the wreckage from the Key Bridge collapse.
The sound of the explosion echoed through the area, sounding like loud fireworks.
"Today we achieved an important milestone," said Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon, from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Unified Command officials said the 4,000-ton piece of the Key Bridge has been atop of the Dali cargo ship for seven weeks, and anchoring it to the bottom of the river.
The goal was to break the truss into smaller pieces to make it easier to remove the bridge and refloat the ship.
"Salvage operations is a lot like peeling back an onion, so that's the work you see occurring right now," Spellmon said. "The teams are already out assessing to see if there was any movement of the debris atop the vessel."
The Dali's 20-plus member crew remained onboard and moved to the bottom of the ship during the explosion.
What comes next?
The next step is to refloat and remove the Dali from the Patapsco River which is expected to happen this week.
Over the next two days, Unified Command expects to free the Dali from the river and move it back to the Port of Baltimore and resume work to fully reopen the main shipping channel by the end of the month.
It's undetermined what exactly will happen to the crew once the Dali docks back at the port as the NTSB and the FBI continue to investigate the cause of the collision with the bridge.
