Baltimore: US government approves emergency aid – cleanup underway WHO extends negotiations on global pandemic deal

After the bridge collapsed in the port of the US city of Baltimore, efforts are in full swing to reopen the main shipping channel. According to a report in the New York Times, the “largest crane on the US East Coast” was expected to reach the accident site late Thursday (local time) to help remove bridge debris from the water.

On Tuesday night, a container ship rammed a support pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing the 1.5-mile-long auto bridge to collapse. Since then, the steel frame has been blocking the passage from the port of the economic center and the ship “Dali” is also still at the site of the accident.

However, the US government approved the emergency aid of 60 million dollars (55 million euros) requested by the state of Maryland. “This is just the beginning of our financial support,” US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on the X platform (formerly Twitter). The U.S. government will guide Baltimore through every step of its reconstruction.

Buttigieg described the port of the East Coast metropolis as an important hub for America’s supply chains and economy. Maryland Governor Wes Moore called the bridge collapse a “national crisis.” Shipping traffic needs to get going again and that will take time.

The top priority is finding the four bridge workers who are still missing so their families can find closure, according to the New York Times. According to the Department of Transportation, eight construction workers were on the bridge repairing potholes at the time of the accident. Two of them were rescued alive on Tuesday. The bodies of two other men were recovered on Wednesday evening. (saw/sda/dpa)