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Lost power, a mayday call and the crash that brought down a Baltimore bridge
By the time the crew of the Dali, a massive 948ft (289m) container ship, realised what was happening, it was already far too late.
The vessel – at the very start of a 27-day journey from the port of Baltimore to Sri Lanka – completely lost power after leaving the port and was hurtling towards the city’s iconic Francis Scott Key Bridge.
It was the middle of the night and the crew onboard were pitched into further darkness when the ship’s lights suddenly went out.
The vessel was dead: there were no electronics and – crucially – no engine power. They were adrift but powerless to stop what was happening.
Multiple alarms rang out as the crew ran unsuccessful tests in a desperate attempt to fix the issue and regain power. A local pilot onboard the vessel frantically gave orders, telling the crew to steer the rudder hard to port and drop anchor to keep it from drifting starboard. While an emergency generator is believed to have kicked in, the ship never regained the use of its engines.
The pilots were left with no choice. Shortly before 01:30 (05:30 GMT), they issued a mayday call warning authorities that a collision was imminent.
“There’s a ship approaching that has lost their steering,” an official with the Maryland Transportation Authority can be heard saying in radio traffic recorded not long after. “Until you’ve got that under control, we’ve got to stop all traffic.”
Maryland Governor Wes Moore later hailed the crew as “heroes” and said that their quick response had “saved lives” because authorities were able to stop the flow of vehicle traffic on to the bridge in the two minutes between the call and the collision.
It did not, however, stop what happened when the Dali slammed into a concrete column on the 1.5-mile (2.4km) bridge, which quickly collapsed, piece by piece, into the dark, cold waters of the state’s Patapsco River.
Six people – all believed to be members of a road crew working on the bridge – are presumed dead due to the water temperature and time that has passed. The US Coast Guard said in the late evening on Tuesday that it had concluded the men had died and intended to suspend its massive search and rescue effort, which had been complicated by cold and cloudy weather.
Local media had reported that the six workers were citizens of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. The BBC has not independently confirmed this and has contacted consular authorities for comment. All 22 crew on the ship were Indian – the country is a major player in the global seafaring industry.
The ship’s crew were all accounted for and none appeared to suffer significant harm.
The dramatic destruction of the bridge – which opened 47 years ago – left many in the city, including Governor Moore, shaken.
“This is a place that is a normal commute route for 30,000 Marylanders every single day. To hear the words ‘the Key Bridge has collapsed’ is shocking. It’s heartbreaking,” Mr Moore said at a news conference on Tuesday.
“For over 47 years, it is all that we’ve known.”
“I felt it… The whole house shook,” John Flansburg, who lives near the water, told the BBC. “Today’s not going to be a good day. A lot of tragedy.”
Another area resident, Darlene Irwin, said that she first knew there was a problem when she heard a “rumbling sound”.
Hours later, the scale of the destruction became apparent when she looked out her window at the Patapsco River. The massive cargo ship, carrying at least 3,000 containers, was wedged between the debris of the collapsed bridge.
By then, the entire area had become the scene of a massive search and rescue effort, with police boats criss-crossing the river and police and Coast Guard helicopters flying overhead.
At a local school, two US military UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters were parked in a sports field, their camouflage-clad pilots and crew milling next to the aircraft.
“To see it now in the daylight,” Ms Irwin said, “it is just tragic.”
While officials have repeatedly stressed that their focus remains on the search for the missing, experts have warned that the incident could also have a significant impact on the port of Baltimore, one of the busiest on the US east coast.
Maryland Senator Ben Cardin told reporters that the re-opening of the waterway would be “critical” for the US economy.
The port is a key regional hub for goods ranging from steel and aluminum to agricultural equipment, and is used by car-makers including General Motors and Honda. Data from the Maryland Port Administration shows the port handled at least 750,000 vehicles last year.
“This will disrupt vessel schedules and strain handling capacities at other ports such as Philadelphia and Norfolk,” said Mirko Woitzik, global director of intelligence for Everstream Analytics, which provides supply-chain services.
“[This could] lead to spillover congestion and delays that could last month.”
Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden – who said he had commuted over the bridge “many, many times” between his home state of Delaware and Washington – vowed to “move heaven and earth” to re-open the bridge.
“We’re going to spend all the federal resources they need as we respond to this emergency,” he said. “And we’re going to rebuild that port together.”
Mr Biden added that 15,000 US jobs “depend on that port”.
Officials have so far declined to comment on any potential timeline for that to happen.
Authorities say that, for now, they are fully focused on the search and rescue operation.
Mr Moore, for his part, said only that the recovery process “will not be short”. Baltimore, he acknowledged, was facing a “long road” after the collapse.
This is not the first time the Dali has been involved in an incident.
According to Vessel Finder, a tracking website, the ship was involved in another collision in the Belgian port of Antwerp in 2016. There were no injuries or significant damage reported at the time.
As night fell on Tuesday, the ship and its load of 3,000 containers remained on the Patapsco River, its nose stuck between the mangled debris of the bridge it brought down in seconds.
(BBC)
Kusal Mendis and Binura Fernando have been ruled out of Sri Lanka’s upcoming T20I series against England, with the SLC saying that the two were “still undergoing rehabilitation” after injuries picked up at the 2026 Lanka Premier League.
The update came just over a day after the two were named in the 16-member squad, with Kusal retained as captain of both the T20I and the ODI sides.Charith Asalanka, who had returned to the vice-captain’s position for the series, will now lead the side in the T20Is. Though Kusal hasn’t been ruled out of the ODIs just yet, were he to miss out, Asalanka, as the designated vice-captain, might step in there too.
Kusal has been out of action since July 19 with a right hamstring injury, while Binura hasn’t played since August 5, SLC putting his absence down to a back injury.
Pavan Rathnayake, the 24-year-old top-order batter, has replaced Kusal in the T20I touring party, while Dilshan Madushanka, the fast bowler who was in the squad for the Tests against India recently but didn’t get to play, has come in for Binura.
(Cricinfo)
Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Member of Parliament Namal Rajapaksa has been arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC).
Namal Rajapaksa had been summoned by CIABOC to provide a statement in connection with investigations into the controversial Airbus deal. He was subsequently arrested by CIABOC after recording his statement for over 5 hours.
Smriti Mandhana filled her batting coffers with her second T20I century, along the way surpassing Mithali Raj for the record for most runs in women’s internationals, to help India secure a second straight win on Thursday night in Dubai.
Hong Kong’s nerves showed on the field when they fell flat at the first sign of attack from India’s batters, and their timid approach in the chase further exposed the gulf in quality and experience. In the end, they lost by 137 runs – 13 more than what Mandhana managed on her own.
A second straight loss meant Hong Kong will only have some pride to play for, as a berth in the next round is now out of the equation.
India’s cautious start
At the end of five overs, India were 38 without loss – not concerning, but not dominating enough either. They took a while to suss up the lack of pace from the bowlers. Mandhana hogged much of the strike; Shafali Verma faced just six balls in the first five overs. Hong Kong couldn’t have been happier at having kept a lid on the scoring.
Shafali steps up
After a tight first over that went for just seven, offspinner Maria Lamplough was clobbered by Shafali for two fours and two sixes in a 22-run over that helped India take off.
Lamplough struggled for consistency and kept looping the ball up, with Shafali needing no second invitation. The first of the two sixes was a shovel over deep midwicket; the next even better – lofted inside-out over deep extra cover.
Shafali’s brief surge ended on 28 in the eighth over, when Marina took an excellent catch running in and diving full stretch from long-on off Ruchita Venkatesh’s bowling. By then, the openers had put on 74.
Mandhana prances towards record century
As new No. 3 Pratika Rawal took a while to gauge the pace of the surface, Mandhana reached her half-century – her 36th in T20Is – off 40 deliveries with a flat six over deep square. Mandhana’s default setting for much of this period was moving over to the off-side to set herself up for several variations of the slog in the arc between wide long-on and deep square.
Her next fifty came off just 18 deliveries. The century could’ve been nipped in the bud had she been taken at deep square leg in the 16th over off Siu Wai, but she accelerated even more soon after bringing up her century that helped her climb atop the list for most international hundreds in women’s cricket.
In the 18th over, she clobbered Venkatesh for three consecutive sixes, and in the same over also went past Mithali’s record for most international runs. This helped India finish strongly, the second half of their innings brought them 107 despite losing a clutch of wickets.
Nandani’s dream run continues
Coming off a three-for against Thailand, Nandani Sharma’s seam presentation and control was immaculate with the new ball as Hong Kong crawled to 4 for 1 in four overs. The wicket, off Mariko Hill, one of their most experienced batters, came off a superb in-ducker on the back of three successive away-swingers. Nandani added one more wicket to her kitty to finish with 2 for 6 off her three overs.
The collapse
The highest partnership of the innings was the 27 between Yasmin Daswani and Natasha Miles for the second wicket; a period where they hardly threw any caution to the wind, choosing instead to bat overs and gain some match time against an opponent they were playing for the first time in 14 years.
The partnership ended when Daswani’s attempt to heave into the leg side was intercepted by a leaping Bharti Fulmali at midwicket to give Deepti Sharma a wicket. Six balls later, Miles was out attempting to cut Prema Rawat’s sharp leg break, nicking behind to Richa Ghosh.
That was the start of the collapse, as India’s spinners closed in, each one getting onto the scorecard with a bagful. There were eight single-digit scores, with 15 the highest. They lost their last five wickets in 11 deliveries, collapsing from 54 for 5 to 56 all out.
India couldn’t have asked for an easier route into the semi-finals.
Scores:
India Women 193 for 5 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 124, Shafali Verma 28, Pratika Rawal 10, Richa Gosh 11, Harmanpreet Kaur 10; Marina Lamplough 2-46, Ruchitha Venkatesh 1-30, Joyleen Kaur 1-12) beat Hong Kong Women 56 in 16.2 overs (Natasha Miles 15, Yasmin Daswani 11, Marina Lamplough 14; Nandani Sharma 2-06, Shree Charani 2-16, Deepti Sharma 3-09, Prema Rawat 2-12) by 137 runs
[Cricinfo]
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