Joe Biden pledged that the US federal government will pay the full cost of rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, which collapsed before dawn on Tuesday after being struck by a massive cargo ship.
“It’s my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge and I expect the Congress to support my effort,” the US president said.
Asked why the government should pay and not Grace Ocean, the owners of the Singapore-registered ship, Biden said: “That could be, but we’re not going to wait for that to happen. We’re going to pay for it to get the bridge rebuilt and opened.”
Authorities said six people were unaccounted for after the accident, which sent vehicles and eight construction workers into the Patapsco river.
Jeffrey Pritzker, a senior executive at Brawner Builders, the employer of the construction workers, said on Tuesday afternoon that they were presumed dead, given the water’s depth and the length of time since the crash.Pritzker said the crew had been working in the middle of the bridge when it came apart. No bodies have been recovered.
“This was so completely unforeseen,” Pritzker said. “We don’t know what else to say. We take such great pride in safety, and we have cones and signs and lights and barriers and flaggers. But we never foresaw that the bridge would collapse.”
All 22 crewmembers onboard the Dali, the ship that struck the bridge, were reported safe.
A reporter from the Baltimore Banner said that the half-dozen missing people were construction workers from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico who are in their 30s and 40s, with spouses and children.
All of them came to the city for a better life, – not necessarily for themselves, but for the loved ones they left behind in their home countries, the Banner’s reporter wrote.
“They are all hard-working, humble men.”
The White House said Biden had spoken to federal, state and local officials as part of the continuing response to the collapse of the bridge.
Those officials included Pete Buttigieg, the US secretary of transportation; Wes Moore, the Democratic governor of Maryland; the two Democratic US senators from Maryland, Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin; and the mayor of Baltimore, Brandon Scott.
Moore told reporters the bridge, which was built in 1977, was “fully up to code” before being struck by the ship.
Speaking from the Roosevelt Room in the White House, Biden said: “Everything so far indicates that this was a terrible accident. At this time, we have no other indication. No other reason to believe there’s any intentional act here.
“I know every minute in that circumstance feels like a lifetime,” Biden added, in remarks aimed at people awaiting word on the missing.
The search and rescue operation was “our top priority”, Biden said, adding: “We’re with you. We’re going to stay with you as long as it takes. You’re Maryland tough, you’re Baltimore strong.”
Saying, “We’re not leaving until this job is done,” Biden said he would travel to Baltimore “as quickly as I can”.
The president then left Washington for a campaign event in Raleigh, North Carolina. Buttigieg was due to travel to Baltimore.
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
