What is happening with the Key bridge collapse?

Transcript

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Six people are still missing after a major bridge collapse in Baltimore. The Francis Scott Key Bridge was hit by a cargo ship very early this morning. All of those missing are thought to be members of a construction crew. They were reportedly repairing potholes on the bridge when it crumbled into the Patapsco River. Maryland Governor Wes Moore gave this update to reporters this afternoon.

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WES MOORE: This is very much still a search and rescue mission. We are still actively looking for survivors.

KELLY: Reporter Wambui Kamau of member station WYPR joins me now from Baltimore. Hey there, Wambui.

WAMBUI KAMAU, BYLINE: Hi, Mary Louise.

KELLY: Hi. So I want to follow. We just heard Governor Moore there saying this is a search and rescue mission. They are still searching. The focus now is on these missing men. What do we know about them?

KAMAU: That's right. What we know about them is the crew worked for Brawner builders. That is the contractor - still no word on if that company hired any subcontractors. And the workers are all from Latin America. My colleague Emily Hofstaedter was able to talk to Jesus Campos, who's from El Salvador. He works on the construction crew with the people who are missing. And he had the day off and learned about the accident from a colleague.

JESUS CAMPOS: (Through interpreter) They are all family men. They are people who come to earn the daily bread. That's what we were doing here - working.

KELLY: Gosh, amazing to hear from that man who had the day off. Tell me more about the bridge where they were working. It's, of course, a major artery for the city, for the whole region. All kinds of people are relying on it to get around, all kinds of ships passing under it every day.

KAMAU: It really is. So the Francis Scott Key Bridge was constructed in 1977, and it is a gateway to one of Baltimore's tourist sites, which is Fort McHenry. And that's a park where people can go, including families, to not only walk around and have recreational activities but also experience some American history. That is where Francis Scott Key, who wrote the "Star-Spangled Banner," was - he was inspired by that by seeing the fight with Baltimoreans and the British. According to Baltimore's Department of Transportation, about 11.2 million people travel there annually and not only to go to that park but also, you know, to go to school and work and just commute through for their lives.

KELLY: Sure. Let's get to the why. We have heard from the NTSB, the National Transportation Safety Board. We've heard from other officials today. Does anyone seem to know why the ship crashed into the bridge?

KAMAU: The cause is still unknown. And that is something that the NTSB really wants to be able to dig into as they conduct their investigation. They do say that loss of power was a contributing factor. NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy spoke with reporters about an hour ago. And she also did talk a little bit about not knowing exactly who was on the ship. But there are reports that the Dali - that's the name of the ship - had 22 crew members who are Indian. And some officials have been praising them, saying that they did the right thing by alerting authorities because that also gave authorities time to stop traffic and prevent casualties.

KELLY: Yeah. Let me just talk about the traffic because the video and photos coming out of Baltimore today are incredible. It looked like it was a really long bridge, a really big job to try to get traffic and people moving again.

KAMAU: Yes. And we still don't know how long that will take. Right now people are being asked to stay out of the area and use alternative routes. And this is going to have a big impact of the people in Baltimore because one of the alternate routes is a tollway. And, Mary Louise, as you know, a lot of people don't like to use tollways, so they would actually use this bridge as a way to get around that.

KELLY: Yeah. Since you're there, can I just ask how people are reacting? Is everybody walking around stunned in Baltimore today?

KAMAU: Yeah. There's a huge psychological impact. This morning we heard our mayor, Brandon Scott, say that it was like a scene coming out of a movie. And that's also other - a description that I'm hearing a lot of people use - is they just are in disbelief.

KELLY: Wambui Kamau, a reporter with member station WYPR in Baltimore. Thank you for the update.

KAMAU: Thank you.

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