As divers assisted crews in the complicated and meticulous operation of removing steel and concrete from the fallen Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, some near the site took time on Easter Sunday to reflect on the six workers alleged to have been fall to your death.
As cranes periodically moved into position and workers measured and cut steel to prepare to lift sections of twisted steel, the Rev. Ako Walker held a mass in Spanish at the Sacred Heart of Jesus, about 5 miles (8 kilometers) ) along the Patapsco River since the collapse.
“Yes, we can rebuild a bridge, but we need to look at how migrant workers are treated and how best we can improve their situation when they come to the United States of America,” Walker said of the men who came from Mexico , Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador and were repairing potholes.
Dive teams were in the river on Sunday inspecting parts of the bridge underwater and checking the vessel to ensure it could be safely removed once the wreckage was raised. Previously, elevator workers used torches to cut parts of the twisted steel superstructure above the water.
The bridge collapsed last Tuesday when the crew of the cargo ship Dali lost power and control. They called a mayday, which gave just enough time for police to stop vehicles from going onto the bridge, but not enough time to get a team of eight workers out of the structure.
Two workers survived, two bodies were found in a submerged pickup truck and four other men were presumed dead. Weather conditions and debris tangled underwater made it too dangerous for divers to search for their bodies.
Each part of the bridge removed from the water will be lifted onto a barge and taken downstream to the Tradepoint Atlantic logistics center, where it will be inspected, Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said.
Everything salvage crews do affects what happens next and, ultimately, how long it will take to clear all the debris and reopen the ship channel and blocked Baltimore Harbor, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said .
It could also alter the course of the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation, which Moore said is important to ensuring this doesn’t happen again.
“We need to have answers about what happened. We need to know who should be responsible for this. And we need to make sure we hold them accountable,” Moore told CNN on Sunday.
The crew of the Dali, which is as long as the Eiffel Tower, remains on board the ship. The ship is trapped between 3,000 and 4,000 tons of debris. Most of the containers remained intact, but some were torn or thrown away by falling debris.
The Dali is operated by Synergy Marine Group and owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. Danish shipping giant Maersk has mapped Dali, which was leaving port when it struck the bridge’s support column.
In addition to clearing the shipping channel to reopen the port, officials are trying to figure out how to rebuild the main bridge, which was completed in 1977 and carried Interstate 695 around Southeast Baltimore and was a vital link to the centuries of the city’s maritime culture.
It took five years to build the original bridge. President Joe Biden’s administration has promised to pay the full cost of rebuilding, and state and federal transportation officials have said they will work as quickly as possible.
But at the moment it is not possible to say exactly how long the new bridge will take. Engineers were unable to assess the condition of the smaller ramps and bridges leading to the collapsed structure to get the full picture of what needs to be done.
Congress is expected to consider relief packages to help people who lose jobs or businesses due to the prolonged closure of the Port of Baltimore. The port handles more automobiles and agricultural equipment than any other U.S. facility.
“This is important to people in rural North Carolina, Kansas and Iowa. This is important for the global economy. And it shouldn’t be something that has anything or any conversation around the party. We’re talking about an American tragedy for an American city,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
The Small Business Administration will open a center in Dundalk, Maryland, on Monday to help small businesses get loans to help them cope with losses caused by the bridge collapse.
The workers were not parishioners of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, whose pews were packed on Sundays for mass. But his pastor, Walker, reached out to the families because, as he said, Baltimore’s Latino community is large but closely connected.
In an interview before the service he said they were good men who worked not only for their families in the United States but also for relatives in their countries.
Walker hopes their stories encourage people to embrace migrant workers who want to improve their lives and grow their communities.
“We must be bridges for each other even in the most difficult situations. Our lives must be little bridges of mercy, of hope, of togetherness and of community building,” Walker said.