Baltimore tragedy: Police audio discloses disbelieving voices during mishap

The details leading up to the tragic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge near Baltimore were captured in a police officer’s disbelieving voice as it happened early Tuesday morning. Homeland security have begun the probe, however, have cautioned that the investigation will be a massive undertaking and could take one to two years.
“The whole bridge just fell down!” exclaimed the officer on the dispatch radio, which was broadcast by Broadcastify, a platform that shares emergency service audio clips from significant incidents.
The audio also recorded the officers’ swift actions to stop traffic and close the bridge, potentially saving many lives. Their heroic efforts were praised by Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott on Wednesday.
Eight workers from Mexico and Central America, engaged in repairing potholes, were taking a break inside their cars just moments before the bridge collapsed on Tuesday night. While two workers were rescued, two bodies were recovered from the Patapsco River on Wednesday. Tragically, the remaining four men are presumed dead, their bodies likely still trapped in their submerged vehicles.
In the audio recording released by the authorities who responded to the mayday warning by Dali’s crew dramatic versions of the intense moments were revealed.
“I need one of you guys on the south side, one of you guys on the north side, hold all traffic on the Key Bridge — there is a ship approaching that has lost its steering. So until you get that under control, we got to stop all traffic,” one officer said on the dispatch.
The officer continued, “I’m not sure where, there’s a crew up there you might want to notify, whoever the foreman is, see if we can get them off the bridge temporarily.”
Another officer responded, “Once another police unit arrives, I’ll go grab the workers on the Key Bridge.”
Moments later, another officer exclaimed over the radio, “The whole bridge just fell down! Start, start … everybody. The whole thing just collapsed.”
The dramatic collapse, as seen in video footage, happened within seconds. The ill-fated journey of the Dali, the massive cargo ship involved, had started 50 minutes earlier.
The nearly 1,000-foot-long Dali departed from the port of Baltimore at 12:39 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The ship entered the channel at 1:07 a.m. and by 1:24 a.m., it had reached a speed of 8 knots, or 9.2 mph.
At 1:24 a.m., multiple alarms can be heard on the ship’s audio. Two minutes later, the ship’s pilot called for any nearby tugboats to assist and contacted the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) to report the loss of control.
At 1:27 a.m., the pilot ordered the boat to drop its port anchor and continued to make steering commands. At this point, the pilot radioed to say he had lost all power and was approaching the bridge. The MDTA radioed police units on both sides of the bridge to stop traffic, as the ship continued at a speed of less than 7 knots, or 8 mph.
The ship’s audio captured the moment of impact at 1:29 a.m. — the ship’s pilot reported the bridge coming down at the same time.
As Baltimore, Maryland, and the country grapple with the loss of six lives, a well-known landmark, and vital economic infrastructure, the focus shifts to the investigation. This includes understanding why the massive Dali cargo ship suddenly lost power and how the bridge collapsed so rapidly.
The Dali underwent routine maintenance while at the Port of Baltimore, but no issues were reported, said Coast Guard Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath on Wednesday.
“As far as the engine goes, we were not informed of any problems with the vessel,” he stated at a news conference. “We were informed that they were going to conduct routine engine maintenance on it while it was in port. And that’s the only thing we were informed about that vessel in that regard.”
National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer L. Homendy and a team of investigators boarded the ship on Wednesday to interview the crew and gather evidence. The NTSB has recovered the data recorder, which will provide a vast range of data, including the ship’s exact position and its system status at the time of the collision.
In the meantime, one of the largest ports on the eastern seaboard remains closed, disrupting a major route for consumer goods, including automobiles. This route typically accounts for 4,900 trucks and billions of dollars in trade daily.