Holy shit I can’t imagine the sheer terror. One second you’re just doing your normal work commute, the next you just fell a hundred feet into freezing water. Without reacting immediately you’re probably trapped in your car from the water pressure. Shit shit shit
Luckily this happened around 1:30 in the morning, because at rush hour that bridge is bumper to bumper and the death toll would be in the hundreds or even thousands.
This is what I’m thinking.
Its a genuine miracle that this is such a small death toll in a major city like this.
One can hope this raises awareness to fracture critical (iirc the term?) bridges that are vulnerable to catastrophic failures
I wonder if the death toll from having emergency services having to take a longer, more congested route will be higher than the actual accident. That bridge is the only way to cross the Patapsco south of Baltimore.
Luckily the bridge was closed to traffic in both directions at the time, for construction. Unfortunately, the missing people are the construction crew.
The article says several vehicle are in the water, including a tractor trailer rig. There was construction happening, but the bridge was apparently not closed.
They closed it after the ship’s Mayday call.
Officials said in a news conference that a mayday had been issued before the collision, which allowed officials to stop traffic onto the bridge. Officials did not clarify how many vehicles were on the bridge at the time of the collapse. Infrared video showed that vehicles did enter the water, but it’s not clear if those vehicles had occupants. Multiple vehicles remained in the river as of mid-morning.
So far they’re only saying that members of the construction crew are missing.
Six people remain unaccounted for, Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said in a mid-morning news conference. All six were part of a construction crew that was filling potholes on the bridge at the time, Wiedefeld said. Two other workers were rescued from the water.
The odds of a bridge collapsing while you drive over it are far too small to bother.
Not in America! Look up our crumbling bridge infrastructure to be amazed.
Yeah, then you can just drown nice and quick in icy water. Still better, since chance of escape or rescue is pretty much nil.
Luckily, Baltimore is such an affluent economic powerhouse. It can easily take the hit with minimal consequence. Go ravens!/s
Any Mothman sightings nearby?
In a strange twist it turned out that this happened just because the captain of the boat never got over “Hail, Columbia” losing out.
