A Chinese bridge collapse over the Yellow River in Qinghai province has killed at least 12 workers.
BEIJING — The collapse of an under-construction railway bridge over a major river in China has killed at least 12 workers and left four others missing, state media reports said.
Aerial photos from the official Xinhua News Agency show a large section missing from the bridge’s curved aquamarine arch. A bent section of the bridge deck hangs downward into the Yellow River below.
Sixteen workers were on the bridge in northwest China’s Qinghai province when a steel cable snapped about 3 a.m. Friday during a tensioning operation, Xinhua said. Boats, a helicopter and robots were being used in the search for the missing.
The bridge is 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) long and its deck is 55 meters (180 feet) above the surface of the river below, the English-language China Daily newspaper said.
Beijing — At least 12 people were killed and four left missing after part of a bridge under construction collapsed Friday in northwest China, state media reported. A video published by state broadcaster CCTV showed the middle of the bridge’s arch section suddenly giving way and plunging into the waters of the Yellow River below.
The cause was a steel cable failure, state news agency Xinhua said.
The People’s Daily newspaper said 15 workers and a project manager were on-site at the time. The death toll was initially reported as seven by the newspaper, but subsequent reports put it at six and then state TV doubled the toll.
According to CCTV’s report, at least 91 rescue vehicles, including 27 boats, a helicopter and five robots, along with 806 personnel, were deployed to help with the search and rescue effort. The state-run network said six hospitals in the region were prepared to intake victims for treatment.
The bridge on the Sichuan-Qinghai Railway is the world’s largest-span double-track continuous steel truss arch bridge, according to People’s Daily.
A file photo from Dec. 20, 2024, shows construction underway on the Jianzha Yellow River Bridge, a key project of the Sichuan-Qinghai Railway in Jianzha County, Qinghai Province, China. A central arch of the still-under-construction bridge collapsed on Aug. 22, 2025, killing at least six people according to state media.
Costfoto/NurPhoto/Getty
It is also China’s first railway steel truss arch bridge spanning the Yellow River — the country’s second longest — the report said.
Images published on state media show the partially built bridge, its middle section missing and two giant scaffolding towers and several cranes alongside it.
Hundreds of rescue workers were mobilized for the search and rescue operation, Xinhua said.
Industrial accidents are fairly common in China due to vague regulations and lax safety standards.
In December last year, 13 people went missing after a cave-in at a construction site for a major railway in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. There were no reports of survivors.
Three people were killed and several more seriously injured Wednesday when a bridge in Mississippi that was closed nearly a month ago collapsed while a work crew was prepping it for demolition, authorities said.
The bridge over the Strong River on State Route 149 in Simpson County, about 40 miles south of Jackson, had been closed to traffic since Sept. 18 as part of a bridge replacement project, the Mississippi Department of Transportation said in a news release.
Gov. Tate Reeves said in a post on social media late Wednesday that first responders from the county and “other state assets have been on the scene at the tragedy” where they’d confirmed at least three fatalities and multiple injuries.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a social media post late Wednesday that the Federal Highway Administration was “engaging state officials concerning” the “premature collapse during demolition of a bridge on State Route 149 in Mississippi.”
Simpson County Sheriff Paul Mullins had previously told WLBT-TV three people were killed and four critically injured.
Terry Tutor, the Simpson County coroner, told the New York Times that seven men were working on the bridge, using heavy machinery to tear it down, when it gave way and plummeted nearly 40 feet. He said three of the men died, and four were injured, the Times reported.
Mullins and Tutor didn’t immediately respond to messages Wednesday night from The Associated Press.
A call to the construction company, T.L. Wallace Construction, was unanswered Wednesday evening, and it was not possible to leave a message.
Department of Transportation spokesperson Anna Ehrgott said the agency “would share more information with the public as it becomes available.”
The department said one of its inspectors was at the work site when the bridge collapsed, and that person was unharmed.
Salvage crews on Sunday began removing containers from the deck of the cargo ship that crashed into and collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, an important step toward the full reopening of one of the nation’s main shipping lanes.
A section of the container ship Dali is seen with the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge upon it, as seen from the debris retrieval vessel Reynolds, April 4, 2024, in Baltimore. (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner via AP)(AP/Kaitlin Newman)
A section of the container ship Dali is seen with the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge upon it, as seen from the debris retrieval vessel Reynolds, April 4, 2024, in Baltimore. (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner via AP)(AP/Kaitlin Newman)
BALTIMORE (AP) — Salvage crews on Sunday began removing containers from the deck of the cargo ship that crashed into and collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, an important step toward the full reopening of one of the nation’s main shipping lanes.
The removal of the containers from the deck of the Dali would continue this week as weather permits, according to a statement from the Key Bridge Response Unified Command. Crews were progressing toward removing sections of the bridge that lie across the ship’s bow to eventually allow it to move, the statement said.
In total, 32 vessels have passed through temporary channels on either side of the wreckage, officials said.
“The Unified Command is concurrently progressing on its main lines of effort to remove enough debris to open the channel to larger commercial traffic,” U.S. Coast Guard Capt. David O’Connell said in the statement.
The Dali has been trapped under mangled steel in the Patapsco River since it slammed into the bridge on March 26, killing six workers.
President Joe Biden took a helicopter tour Friday of the warped metal remains and the mass of construction and salvage equipment trying to clear the wreckage. The president also met for more than an hour with the families of those who died.
Eight workers — immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador — were filling potholes on the bridge when it was hit and collapsed in the middle of the night. Two men were rescued and the bodies of three others were recovered in subsequent days. The search for the other victims continued.
Officials have established a temporary, alternate channel for vessels involved in clearing debris. The Army Corps of Engineers hopes to open a limited-access channel for barge container ships and some vessels moving cars and farm equipment by the end of April, and to restore normal capacity to Baltimore’s port by May 31, the White House said.
More than 50 salvage divers and 12 cranes are on site to help cut out sections of the bridge and remove them from the key waterway.
How you can help the families of the Key Bridge collapse victims
Updated: 3:38 PM PDT Apr 2, 2024
WORKERS TO COME TOGETHER AND SUPPORT EACH OTHER. THE O’S ESTAMOS USTEDES AQUI AHORA SIEMPRE. WE ARE ALL WITH YOU. WE ARE ALL OF YOU. WE ARE ALL WITH YOU. WE ARE ALL OF YOU. RIGHT HERE, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW, RIGHT NOW AND ALWAYS. HARD HATS A CANDLE AND FLOWERS. ALL TO REMEMBER. THE SIX CONTRACTORS WHO DIED WHILE WORKING ON THE FRANCIS SCOTT KEY BRIDGE. THEY WERE DOING ROAD REPAIRS, FILLING POTHOLES WHEN THE STRUCTURE WAS HIT BY THE CONTAINER SHIP DOLLY AND COLLAPSED INTO THE PATAPSCO RIVER. WE ARE JOINED TOGETHER TODAY FOR A SOMBER MOMENT OF HONORING THE SIX BROTHERS WHO LOST THEIR LIVES DURING THE KEY BRIDGE COLLAPSE THIS WEEK, AND THE ESSENTIAL WORKERS WHO PERFORMED THE DANGEROUS YET CRITICAL WORK OF THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY. 11 NEWS SHOWED YOU VIDEO OF THE WORK CREW TAKEN BY A DRIVER’S DASH CAM VIDEO. TWO HOURS BEFORE THE BRIDGE CAME CRASHING DOWN, TWO MEN SURVIVED DIVERS AS PART OF A RECOVERY EFFORT DID FIND THE BODIES OF TWO VICTIMS. THE FOREMAN ON THE JOB, 35 YEAR OLD ALEJANDRO HERNANDEZ FUENTES OF BALTIMORE, AND WORKER, 26 YEAR OLD JULIAN RONIEL CASTILLO CABRERA OF DUNDALK. FOUR OTHERS ARE STILL MISSING, INCLUDING MAYNARD SUSO SANDOVAL, WHO LIVED. IN OWINGS MILLS, THE MARRIED FATHER OF TWO CHILDREN, WAS ORIGINALLY FROM HONDURAS AND HAD LIVED IN THE U.S. FOR 17 YEARS. MIGUEL LUNA LIVED IN MARYLAND 19 YEARS. THE MARRIED FATHER OF THREE WAS FROM EL SALVADOR THROUGH AN INTERPRETER, OTHER CONSTRUCTION WORKERS TALKED ABOUT THE DANGERS THEY FACE, AND I ASKED MYSELF. WHAT WERE TO HAPPEN IF I WERE TO GET INJURED, OR EVEN WORSE. THE GATHERING IS ALSO TO BRING ATTENTION TO THE NUMBER OF IMMIGRANTS WHO COME TO THE U.S. AND WORK IN DANGEROUS OR HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS, WITH VERY LITTLE PROTECTION. ONE DAY I HAD A FALL, FELL INTO ANOTHER ROOF, AND BEGAN PELIGRO MI TRABAJO. THIS IS A EXPERIENCE THAT PUT ME INTO GREAT DANGER. AT WORK. A BILL HAS BEEN INTRODUCED TO GIVE SUPPORT TO THE VICTIMS, SMALL BUSINESSES AND WORKERS IN NEED OF HELP. I WANT TO TELL YOU WITH ALL MY HEART THAT WE ARE WITH YOU. NOSOTROS ESTAMOS CON USTEDES. AND THE CONSTRUCTION WORKERS WHO WERE HERE SAY THAT THEY WILL NOT FORGET THE SACRIFICE MADE BY THOSE SIX MEN.
How you can help the families of the Key Bridge collapse victims
Updated: 3:38 PM PDT Apr 2, 2024
Baltimore City officials are raising money for the families of those impacted by the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse.Video above: Memorial remembers 6 construction workers lost in bridge collapseThe Baltimore Civic Fund has opened a donation page to support the victims’ families and the families of the survivors.”The money raised will be distributed to the families of those impacted. While monetary support can never replace the loss of a loved one, our goal is to help ease the burden of those affected by this tragedy,” the page says.You can learn more and contribute to the fund here.Also, find more ways to give here from sister station WBAL-TV’s partners at Baltimore Magazine.
Video above: Memorial remembers 6 construction workers lost in bridge collapse
The Baltimore Civic Fund has opened a donation page to support the victims’ families and the families of the survivors.
“The money raised will be distributed to the families of those impacted. While monetary support can never replace the loss of a loved one, our goal is to help ease the burden of those affected by this tragedy,” the page says.
Also, find more ways to give here from sister station WBAL-TV’s partners at Baltimore Magazine.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said divers at the site of the Baltimore bridge collapse can’t see more than a foot or two in front of them because the water in the Patapsco River is so murky. The governor also said a temporary southwest channel is expected to open in the coming days.
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
JOINS US LIVE FROM DUNDALK. AND TORI, YOU SPOKE WITH THAT MAN WHO SAYS THAT HE’S STILL IN SHOCK, UNDERSTANDABLY RIGHT. KHIREE YOU CAN’T EVEN IMAGINE LARRY DESANTIS TELLING ME THAT HE’S STILL TRYING TO PROCESS EVERYTHING, KNOWING THAT HE MAY HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE LAST PEOPLE TO CROSS THE KEY BRIDGE AS HE WAS COMING TO WORK IN DUNDALK EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. IF I WAS ONE MINUTE LATER, I PROBABLY WOULDN’T BE HERE NOW. STILL PROCESSING LARRY DESANTIS SAYS HE LEFT FROM HIS JOB IN PASADENA AROUND 1:18 A.M., ROUGHLY TEN MINUTES BEFORE THE KEY BRIDGE COLLAPSED TUESDAY MORNING TO HEAD TO A SECOND JOB AT HERMAN’S BAKERY IN DUNDALK. WHEN I WAS GETTING ON, THERE WAS A TRACTOR TRAILER, A TRACTOR TRAILER, BUT IT ONLY HAD A TRACTOR, NOT THE TRAILER PART OF IT. I GOT OUT IN FRONT OF HIM OR WHATEVER, AND WE BOTH GOT ON THE BRIDGE. LARRY SAYS HE WAS GOING AROUND 45MPH BECAUSE OF THE CONSTRUCTION. HE SAYS HE SAW CONSTRUCTION WORKERS ONCE HE GOT OVER THE TOP PART OF THE BRIDGE. THERE WAS A POLICE CAR. WHEN I WENT BY RIGHT BEFORE THE TOLL BRIDGE. FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND, THEY KNEW SOMETHING WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. SO HE WAS WAITING TO GET THE WORD TO STOP THE TRAFFIC. SO I GUESS I WAS LIKE THE LAST ONE THAT WENT THROUGH. AND ONCE HE GOT OFF THE BRIDGE, HE DIDN’T SEE OR HEAR THE COLLAPSE. THE ONLY REASON HE KNEW IS BECAUSE ONE OF HIS COWORKERS CALLED HIM. WHILE I’M SITTING AT THE LIGHT, THE WOMAN FROM HERE CALLED ME AND SAID, WHERE ARE YOU AT? BECAUSE SHE KNEW I WAS, YOU KNOW, SHE SAID, DID YOU GO HOME OR YOU? I SAID, NO, I JUST WENT OVER THE BRIDGE. SHE SAID, WELL, IT JUST COLLAPSED. HE SAYS HE’S STILL IN SHOCK, ESPECIALLY KNOWING SOME OF THE CONSTRUCTION CREW HE PASSED ON THE BRIDGE DIED IN THE COLLAPSE. I KNOW, I KNOW, YOU KNOW, AND THEY STILL HAVEN’T FOUND SOME OF THEM. IT’S SAD. IT REALLY IS. AND I MEAN, THEY’RE DOING THEIR JOB AND NOW COUNTING HIS BLESSINGS, SAYING HE’S GRATEFUL TO BE ALIVE. THE GUY I WORK WITH, YOU KNOW, WE LEAVE. WE LEFT AT THE SAME TIME. IF WE HAD STOPPED AND TALKED FOR A MINUTE, WHICH WE DO A LOT OF TIMES, BUT WE BOTH HAD OTHER JOBS TO GO TO, SO WE JUST LEFT. JUST CRAZY TIMING. DEFINITELY ON LARRY’S SIDE THERE. HE TELLS ME HE’S BEEN GETTING A LOT OF CALLS ALL WEEK BECAUSE EVERYBODY KNEW THAT HE USED THAT BRIDGE ALMOST DAILY TO GET TO AND FROM HIS FIRST AND SECOND JOB LIVE TONIGHT FROM DUNDALK. I’
‘If it was 1 minute later, I probably wouldn’t be here’: Man among last people to cross Key Bridge
Updated: 10:05 AM PDT Apr 1, 2024
A Maryland man said he crossed the Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday morning, heading to his second job just moments before the bridge collapsed. Larry DeSantis, who works his job in Pasadena before heading to his overnight shift at Herman’s Bakery in Dundalk, told sister station 11 News that the speed limit on the bridge was reduced to 45 mph due to construction. “I left (the Green Valley Market Place) parking lot at 1:18 a.m. to go over to Herman’s, my normal thing,” DeSantis told sister station 11 News. “When I was getting on (the Key Bridge) there was a tractor-trailer, but it only had a tractor, not the trailer part of it. I got in front of it and we both got on the bridge. Once I got over the top of the bridge, there was a lot of construction going on, so I (was) cautious.”DeSantis said he noticed construction workers just as he was crossing the middle part of the bridge. “It was quite a bit of construction going on because even off the bridge they were doing quite a bit also,” he said.DeSantis believes he and the tractor-trailer following behind, may have been some of the last people to cross the Key Bridge.”There was a police car when I went by, right before I went on the toll bridge, but what I understand is they knew something was going to happen, so (police) were waiting to get word to stop traffic,” he said. “So, I guess I was, like, the last one to get through. Once I got down Peninsula Highway, I saw one speed by, and he went back the other way.”DeSantis said he did not hear the collapse and didn’t even realize it had happened until he got a call from his co-worker checking in on him.”While I’m sitting at the light, the woman here called me and said, ‘Where you at?’ because she knew. She said, ‘Did you go home?’ And, I said, ‘No, I just went over the bridge,’ and she said, ‘Well, it just collapsed.’”DeSantis said he saw the video of the collapse online and could see “where my truck was going over just as it was about to hit the bridge.” He told 11 News he’s still in shock and processing what had happened Tuesday morning. “At any given time, you never know. It’s really scary, it is. It’s sad. I mean (the construction workers were just) doing their job,” he said.
BALTIMORE —
A Maryland man said he crossed the Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday morning, heading to his second job just moments before the bridge collapsed.
Larry DeSantis, who works his job in Pasadena before heading to his overnight shift at Herman’s Bakery in Dundalk, told sister station 11 News that the speed limit on the bridge was reduced to 45 mph due to construction.
“I left (the Green Valley Market Place) parking lot at 1:18 a.m. to go over to Herman’s, my normal thing,” DeSantis told sister station 11 News. “When I was getting on (the Key Bridge) there was a tractor-trailer, but it only had a tractor, not the trailer part of it. I got in front of it and we both got on the bridge. Once I got over the top of the bridge, there was a lot of construction going on, so I (was) cautious.”
DeSantis said he noticed construction workers just as he was crossing the middle part of the bridge.
“It was quite a bit of construction going on because even off the bridge they were doing quite a bit also,” he said.
DeSantis believes he and the tractor-trailer following behind, may have been some of the last people to cross the Key Bridge.
“There was a police car when I went by, right before I went on the toll bridge, but what I understand is they knew something was going to happen, so (police) were waiting to get word to stop traffic,” he said. “So, I guess I was, like, the last one to get through. Once I got down Peninsula Highway, I saw one speed by, and he went back the other way.”
DeSantis said he did not hear the collapse and didn’t even realize it had happened until he got a call from his co-worker checking in on him.
“While I’m sitting at the light, the woman here called me and said, ‘Where you at?’ because she knew. She said, ‘Did you go home?’ And, I said, ‘No, I just went over the bridge,’ and she said, ‘Well, it just collapsed.’”
DeSantis said he saw the video of the collapse online and could see “where my truck was going over just as it was about to hit the bridge.”
He told 11 News he’s still in shock and processing what had happened Tuesday morning.
“At any given time, you never know. It’s really scary, it is. It’s sad. I mean (the construction workers were just) doing their job,” he said.
Mr. Biden confirmed the trip to reporters after arriving at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland after attending a star-studded fundraiser in New York City with former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
The Biden administration said Thursday it approved $60 million in immediate federal aid to help clean up the wreckage that was caused by a cargo container ship colliding with the bridge early Tuesday, killing six people.
“The federal emergency funds we’re releasing today will help Maryland begin urgent work, to be followed by further resources as recovery and rebuilding efforts progress,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement Thursday.
Mr. Biden said earlier last week that he expects the federal government to pay for the full cost of reconstructing the bridge as officials stressed the economic impact of the Port of Baltimore’s closure. A massive effort is underway to reopen the port, a key shipping route that supports thousands of jobs.
“To the people of Baltimore, I want to say, we’re with you,” the president said Tuesday. “We’re going to stay with you as long as it takes.”
Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at cbsnews.com and is based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.
Crews began cutting through steel beams as cranes prepared to lift debris from the collapsed Francis Scott Key bridge off the cargo ship that brought it down. The cleanup effort is key to reopening the port of Baltimore. Nicole Sganga has the latest.
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
A U.K. war monitor says Israeli airstrikes killed 44 people near the Syrian city of Aleppo early Friday. Human rights groups have called it the deadliest attack in Syria in years. CBS News national security contributor Sam Vinograd joins with analysis.
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Lana Zak reports on the massive cleanup operation at the Baltimore bridge collapse, Evan Gershkovich reaching one year jailed in Russia, and the impact of Beyonce’s new album on country music.
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Eight construction workers were filling potholes on Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed early Tuesday morning. Only two workers survived. The tragedy is bringing awareness to the dangers highway construction crews face on the job. Stacy Tetschner, the president and CEO of the American Traffic Safety Services Association, joined CBS News to discuss.
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Crews are working to clear the wreckage of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge after it collapsed early Tuesday morning when a cargo ship struck a support column. CBS News’ Kris Van Cleave and Nicole Sganga have more.
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is leading the cleanup effort following the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. Kris Van Cleave got an inside look at the operation.
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
A last-minute shift change may have saved the life of a construction worker who was originally scheduled to fil potholes on the Key Bridge when it collapsed. Nicole Sganga shares his story.
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
BALTIMORE — Even before most Americans woke up Tuesday morning to news of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, wild conspiracy theories about what supposedly had “really” happened were running rampant online.
The claims ranged from a cyber-attack or a ship captain impaired by side effects from COVID-19 vaccines being responsible for the crash – to claims that Israel, or even the Obamas had something to do with the bridge’s collapse.
All of these claims are entirely baseless. Officials investigating the crash said early on that there was no indication it was a deliberate act.
But that didn’t stop conspiracy theories from spreading rapidly across the internet, generating tens of millions of views on social media even as dive teams crews were conducting search and rescue operations. In just a few hours an entire alternate reality, devoid of facts, had been created around the bridge’s collapse.
It is a stark reminder of the erosion of trust among Americans in major institutions, particularly government and media, and the perverse online incentive structures that reward the sharing of misinformation.
Cataclysmic events that capture the nation’s attention have always prompted a deluge of alternative theories that challenge or contradict the facts or broadly accepted version of events.
What makes this moment in American history different is the capacity for known peddlers of disinformation to immediately flood the zone with objectively false information, thanks in part to the lack of robust fact-checking operations at social media companies including Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter.
It is entirely possibly that millions of Americans encountered false claims about the bridge collapse when they woke up Tuesday morning before ever seeing the facts.
“In many ways, the Baltimore bridge conspiracies serve as a canary in the coalmine for how election conspiracies will emerge on social media in the leadup to November,” said Ben Decker, CEO of Memetica, a company that tracks misinformation online.
The usual suspects
Soon after 7 a.m. EST, on Tuesday, less than six hours after the bridge collapsed, Andrew Tate, an online provocateur with more than 9 million followers on X, posted, without offering a shred of evidence, that the ship had been “cyber-attacked” and was deliberately steered toward the bridge.
“Foreign agents of the USA attack digital infrastructures,” he added.
Tate, who is known for his misogynistic posts, is currently awaiting trial in Romania on charges of human trafficking and rape. After that trial he is expected to be extradited to the United Kingdom to face sex offense charges. He denies all charges.
By Wednesday, Tate’s tweet had been seen more than 18.5 million times on X, according to the company’s own data.
Under Elon Musk, X has touted community notes as a way for its community to fact-check itself. The note that showed under Tate’s tweet for some of Tuesday meekly described his statement as “speculation.” By Wednesday morning, the note was updated to state Tate’s post was “misleading.” By Wednesday evening, the note said in part that, “readers should be aware this is a personal opinion being portrayed as factual.”
Regardless, Tate’s post helped set the tone for the day’s alternate reality.
Two hours after Tate’s post, Sandy Hook conspiracy theorist Alex Jones posted the video of the bridge collapse on Tuesday and commented, “Looks deliberate to me. A cyber-attack is probable. WW3 has already started.”
Jones and other doomsday peddlers have for years tried to convince their audiences that the world is on the brink of catastrophe and that they need to prepare. Part of that preparedness involves buying thousands of dollars’ worth of freeze-dried food and survival kits – which, of course, Jones happens to sell.
‘A little bit of decency and respect’
On Wednesday, the head of Maryland State Police announced that dive teams had recovered the bodies of two people in the river. At least four other people are unaccounted for and presumed dead, the Coast Guard said.
Baltimore’s mayor asked for people to have “a little bit of decency and respect” when it comes to online discourse about the fatal bridge collapse.
“Don’t spread misinformation. Don’t play bridge engineer online or in the media. Remember that these are people’s family members who have lost their lives simply trying to make transit better for the rest of us,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said.
By then the tragedy had already become a battering ram for political posturing.
Some right-wing social media users suggested that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies were linked to the bridge collapse by arguing that more qualified people were passed over for jobs to fulfill diversity and inclusion mandates and that this in some way contributed to or caused the accident.
There is zero evidence to support this claim – but it makes for a talking point that generates a lot of likes and shares. DEI programs, which promote the inclusion of people from groups that have historically been underrepresented or discriminated against, have become the latest front in America’s culture wars – with Republican states such as Florida and Texas signing into law bills that restrict these initiatives.
Politics is everything
What is perhaps most notable about how quickly and widely conspiracy theories about a breaking news story spread is just how normal this all is right now. The creation of a daily alternate reality is a well-oiled machine by now.
On any given day there is a solid contingent of online influencers, faux intellectuals, and self-professed “truth tellers” who will tell you whatever you are being told on the news is a lie – whether it’s who really won the 2020 election (Biden did) or if Taylor Swift has the ability to rig the Super Bowl to help President Joe Biden (she doesn’t).
Some of this mis- and disinformation is politically or ideologically motivated, some financial, some a mix of both. X under Musk has incentivized creators to make viral posts by offering them a cut of the company’s advertising revenue. Musk claims X doesn’t pay creators whose posts have been corrected by community notes – but a lot of posts on the platform fall into a gray area.
There are other ways to cash in too – like selling doomsday survival kits.
While many Americans might laugh or shrug when they hear some of these conspiracy theories – the daily deluge of false claims shape the world view of millions of other Americans.
A quarter of all Americans falsely believe the FBI, not Trump supporters, instigated the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. A third of Republicans believe the Taylor Swift-Super Bowl conspiracy theory.
Jewish space lasers
As news unfolded on Tuesday, the conspiracy theories continued.
Some people falsely claimed Israel was responsible. Others bizarrely, yet darkly, suggested that the Obamas might be responsible because they produced a Netflix movie where a cyberattack causes an oil tanker to run aground. “Draw your own conclusions,” one person with almost 700,000 followers on X posted Tuesday morning.
David Simon, the creator of the HBO series “The Wire” and a famed Baltimore native, began fact-checking some of the more ludicrous false claims as they circulated on X on Tuesday.
When one X user suggested the Covid-19 vaccine was to blame for the collision, because the captain of the ship had collapsed after taking the vaccine, Simon hit back with facts.
The captain of the ship did not collapse, a power outage caused the collision, Simon noted – before he dryly, and sarcastically, suggested the X user he was replying to might believe the power outage was cause by “Jewish space lasers.”
Before becoming a member of Congress, Marjorie Taylor Greene infamously engaged with a conspiracy theory that Jewish space lasers might have been the cause of deadly wildfires in California.
On Tuesday, the Georgia Republican posted on X asking if the bridge collapse was an “intentional attack or an accident,” adding that there should be a full investigation. Greene has not weighed in on the cause of the bridge collapse.
Jewish space lasers were not responsible for the wildfires, nor the Baltimore bridge collapse. But for many Americans, even maybe some in the halls of Congress, it might not seem so far-fetched.
(The-CNN-Wire & 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.)
Jeff Glor reports on the NTSB’s focus in the Baltimore bridge collapse investigation, an interview with the family of the Boeing whistleblower, and how misinformation about birth control is spreading online.
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Recovery efforts are underway as divers plunge back into Patapsco River Wednesday morning with hopes of recovering the bodies of six construction workers who were on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday morning when a cargo ship rammed into the bridge, causing it to collapse.
Listen to WTOP online and on the radio at 103.5 FM or 107.7 FM for our team coverage.
A Coast Guard cutter passes a cargo ship that is stuck under the part of the structure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after the ship his the bridge Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Baltimore, Md. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)(Courtesy AP/Steve Helber)
A Coast Guard cutter passes a cargo ship that is stuck under the part of the structure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after the ship his the bridge Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Baltimore, Md. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)(Courtesy AP/Steve Helber)
Recovery efforts are underway as divers plunge back into Patapsco River Wednesday morning with hopes of recovering the bodies of six construction workers who were on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday morning when a powerless cargo ship rammed into the bridge, causing it to collapse.
The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search and recovery operation for the workers at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, saying that due to the amount of time that had elapsed since the initial collapse and the cold water temperatures, they did not expect to find any of the workers alive.
Even though the operation has shifted away from search and rescue, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Wednesday morning there’s still a sense of urgency in the recovery mission.
“The top priority for me right now is still the recovery, we’ve got to bring these families closure,” Moore said Wednesday.
The divers have already been back in the water searching for hours, Moore said just before 8:30 a.m.
“I can’t stress enough the heroism of these folks,” Moore said. “They are in frigid conditions, they are down there in darkness where they can literally see about a foot in front of them. They are trying to navigate mangled metal. And they’re also in a place that it is now presumed that people have lost their lives.”
More Key Bridge collapse coverage:
Reports came in around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday that a large vessel had crashed into a column in the central part of the bridge that carries north and southbound lanes of Interstate 695. It’s not clear what caused the actual crash, but the ship’s crew notified authorities of a power issue through a mayday call before it struck the bridge.
Sound of first responders from Broadcastify/AP
Radio communication between emergency responders illustrates how police had roughly 90 seconds to cut off traffic on the bridge before it crumbled.
The officers can be heard discussing how traffic must be stopped to make sure no one is on the bridge because a ship lost control of its steering. They mention the construction crew.
Around a minute into the recording, the vessel struck the bridge and a destructive scene immediately unfolded.
“The whole bridge just fell down,” one officer said. “Start, start whoever, everybody … the whole bridge just collapsed.”
Because of the warning, Moore said port authority workers were able to stop traffic and prevent more vehicles from traveling onto the bridge.
“These people are heroes,” Moore said. “They saved lives last night.”
Two other workers were rescued, with one of them remaining in serious condition as of Tuesday night, Moore said. The other was uninjured. Their crew was repairing potholes on the bridge when the container ship crashed into it, Paul Wiedefeld, the state’s transportation secretary, said.
Jesus Campos, who has worked on the bridge for Brawner Builders and knows members of the crew, said he was told they were on a break and some were sitting in their trucks.
Among the missing were people from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, according to diplomats from those countries.
Guatemala’s consulate in Maryland confirmed that two of the missing were Guatemalan citizens working on the bridge
Three Mexicans were on the bridge. One was rescued, and two are missing, said Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The Honduran man was identified as Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval by that country’s deputy foreign affairs minister.
While U.S. authorities have not named any of the construction workers, a Maryland-based immigrant rights group said one of its longtime members is among those who are presumed dead. In a news release, CASA said Miguel Luna, from El Salvador was missing.
The group said Luna was “a husband, a father of three, and has called Maryland his home for over 19 years.”
Maryland State Police said there is no evidence anyone went into the water, other than the workers, but they haven’t discounted the possibility.
Synergy Marine Group, manages the ship, which is called Dali. In a news release the group said one crew member who was injured on the vessel was taken to the hospital and later discharged. All other crew members along with the two pilots are safe.
The management group also said its emergency response team is in Baltimore, “to support the ongoing efforts to ensure crew safety, maintain vessel integrity and facilitate the swift and safe reopening of the waterway.”
Investigators board ship
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation, and the agency’s chair Jennifer Homendy said she believes a small team briefly boarded the ship Tuesday night.
“The preliminary investigation points to an accident,” Moore said.
Investigators had previously held off on boarding the ship earlier in the day to make room for the Coast Guard’s search efforts, she said.
The U.S. Coast Guard was able to get the voyage data recorder off the ship, Homendy told WTOP.
NTSB was able to download the recorder and send it off to a lab, she said.
“That will give us help, give us a lot of information about the vessel and the operation of the vessel,” Homendy said. “It will begin to develop a timeline of events for us of what led to the striking of the bridge.”
A larger group of investigators is expected to board the ship Wednesday in search of indicators that could point to what went wrong onboard, Homendy said. That gathering of evidence will include collecting electronic information like logs as well as documenting information about the vessel and the bridge.
While she said officials’ highest priority is the recovery effort for the construction workers, NTSB is also working to collect evidence while the wreckage is still in place.
“This will get cleaned up and moved very quickly at some point, and that all of that evidence would be gone,” she said, adding that it’s “utter devastation.”
Major shipping hub shut down to vessel traffic
Baltimore’s Key Bridge was built in 1977 and named for the writer of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” It spans the Patapsco River, a vital artery that, along with the Port of Baltimore, is a hub for shipping on the East Coast.
Ship traffic entering and leaving the Port of Baltimore is suspended until further notice. Maryland Congressman David Trone was told in a briefing the port’s closure will cost the economy at least $15 million a day, according to a statement from his office.
The crash will disrupt the country’s shipping industry and undoubtedly create headaches for commuters who reply on the bridge.
President Joe Biden said the federal government should pay for rebuilding the bridge, and Moore said he’s discussing his legislative options to speed up the recovery with Maryland’s General Assembly and the Biden administration.
“We know that this is going to have to be all hands on deck when we’re talking about the long-term recovery and for what it’s going to mean, not just for elements of the Key Bridge, but all the other elements that this has impacted,” Moore said.
Trone, who is a member of the house appropriations committee, echoed that it will be a team effort to rebuild.
“Right now at the federal level, we’re actively exploring the use of ‘quick release’ emergency relief funds in partnership with Secretary Buttigieg and the urgent deployment of Congressionally approved funding,” Trone wrote in a statement Wednesday.
In 2023, the port handled a record 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo. Moore said the harbor is responsible for $191 million of economic activity daily.
“For everybody who was buying cars, for everybody who was buying farm equipment, we’re the largest port in the country that does that,” he said Wednesday morning while speaking with reporters. “This is not just impacting Maryland.”
Moore said he’s “overwhelmed” by the amount of support from fellow governors, philanthropists and others looking to help.
“Maryland, we really appreciate the love that’s been coming from around the country and the support,” Moore said. “I tell them, the people who need it most of these families>”
WTOP’s Luke Lukert and Ciara Wells and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
