Police audio has been released following the tragic bridge collapse in Baltimore.
As of this writing, six people - all male construction workers - are presumed dead after a cargo ship collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The vessel involved in the collision, identified as the Dali, struck a pillar of the bridge approximately 30 minutes after embarking on its 27-day voyage to Sri Lanka while laden with cargo.
Initially, eight individuals were reported missing - but officials have since confirmed that two individuals have been rescued, one of whom is in a critical condition.
The vessel collided with the metal truss-style bridge at approximately 1:30AM on March 26. Now, police audio has been released depicting an officer calling on "everybody" to rush to the scene and assist.
Thanks to a mayday call from Dali’s crew issued moments before the crash, local authorities were able to prevent further traffic from attempting to cross the bridge. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has said that this intervention saved lives.
Radio audio moments before the tragic collision captures the desperation authorities faced to stop further traffic and clear the bridge.
Per CNN, officials swiftly warned of the ship approaching the bridge, according to a Broadcastify recording of the transmissions.
"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's a ship approaching that just lost their steering so until we get that under control, we've got to stop all traffic," the person said.
Following the collapse of the bridge, the radio messages became even more desperate, with one person saying: "The whole bridge just fell down. Start, start whoever … everybody. The whole bridge just collapsed."
"Do we know what traffic was stopped?” another person asked.
"I can’t get to the other side, sir. The bridge is down," another person responded.
Gov. Moore said of the audio: "I have to say I’m thankful for the folks who once the point came up and notification came up, that there was a mayday [...] Who literally by being able to stop cars from coming over the bridge, these people are heroes. They saved lives."
US Coast Guard and Maryland State Police officials have confirmed that one person is currently in a critical condition. The other rescued individual declined medical attention.
The rescue for the six other individuals was called off after an extensive 18 hours.
"Given the duration of our search efforts, the extensive resources deployed, and considering the water temperature, we regrettably do not anticipate locating these individuals alive," stated Coast Guard rear admiral Shannon Gilreath, who is helping to oversee the operation.
Conditions in the water were said to have become too dangerous for divers to remain in the water.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore told reporters on Tuesday evening that the conclusion of the rescue efforts was a "really heartbreaking conclusion to a challenging day."
Our thoughts continue to go out to anybody impacted by this tragedy.
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