Wreckage from the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge rests on the Dali cargo ship as efforts begin to clear the debris and reopen the Port of Baltimore on March 31, 2024, in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by TASOS KATOPODIS / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Baltimore: Workers have lifted out the first, 200-ton chunk of Baltimore's collapsed bridge, officials said Sunday, as efforts get underway to clear the harbor of the steel structure destroyed by an out-of-control ship.
Demolition crews using blow torches sliced through the upper part of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which crumbled when the Dali cargo vessel lost power and struck it on Tuesday, killing six people.
Authorities hope that removing the bridge -- by cutting it into smaller sections and lifting them out -- will help rescuers recover all the victims' bodies as well as reopen the crucial shipping lane.
"The first lift was made last night after the cutting of the top portion of one of the northern sections of the Key Bridge was completed," said US Coast Guard spokeswoman Kimberly Reaves in a statement.
"The piece removed last night was approximately 200 tons," she said, adding it would be moved to a barge that, once filled with additional pieces, would be taken to a debris-holding site on land.
As salvage operations continued Sunday, Maryland Governor Wes Moore said that "progress is beginning to happen despite the fact that it's an incredibly complicated situation."
He said adverse weather conditions and underwater debris meant divers were unable to assist.
Moore told CNN that a huge crane -- the Chesapeake 1,000 that can lift 1,000 tons -- was being used in the salvage operation.
However, the multi-agency task force overseeing the operation said two smaller cranes -- one weighing 650 tons and another at 330 tons -- were actually being used in this work.
