Baltimore bridge search moving from recovery mission to salvage effort

Family of Mississippi teen who died after being run over by police search for answers and accountability

The heartbroken mother of a Mississippi teen who died after he was run over by a police cruiser last week is mourning the milestones she’ll never get to see her only son achieve.

“I never [will] have the chance, an opportunity, to see my son grow up and become the young man I always knew he was going to be,” Kaychia Calvert said Friday about her 17-year-old son Kadarius Smith.

Smith died after being run over by a Leland police cruiser early March 21, according to attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Calvert, and the city attorney representing police.

The teen’s death has been agonizing, Calvert said.

“He’s supposed to graduate next year. I’m not going to get the chance to see that. He was going to move to Georgia to start his life. I’ll never see that. … If he would have had kids, I will never get the chance to see that. I will never see anything — nothing.”

Crump said that Smith died after a patrol vehicle began chasing the teen as he was running home after police were called to a house he had been at. Smith was hit from behind and had “cruiser tire marks on his back,” Crump said.

Calvert, who did not witness the incident, said a nurse told her 24-year-old daughter about the tire marks.

Crump said the teen died at a hospital.

Calvert said her son and a cousin were at a nearby home about 2 a.m. the day he died. Someone at the home called police after asking Smith to leave amid a dispute, Calvert said.

Smith was on the porch when police arrived, Crump said.

“When the police pulled up to the house … Kadarius took off running,” Crump said. “He was running home, from what we understand.”

Crump said Friday that he’s working to determine if there is video of the incident. The attorney for Leland, a city of about 4,000 residents about 115 miles northwest of Jackson, Miss., could not say if there was any video and did not know if Leland police have dashcams or bodycams.

Crump called the actions of the officer who ran over Smith, who was unarmed, “unconscionable” and said that he and Calvert hope the officer is terminated.

The officer has not been publicly identified.

Crump also accused authorities of trying to sweep the teen’s death “under the rug.”

“As if he was inferior, as if his life didn’t matter,” Crump said. “His life mattered, and we’re going to get to the bottom of this.”

Josh Bogen, who is the city attorney for Leland, on Friday said the officer has been placed on paid leave.

The city’s police department has turned over the investigation to the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, Bogen said. A spokesperson with the state’s Department of Public Safety, which oversees the Highway Patrol and the Bureau of Investigation, said Friday that the highway safety patrol’s accident reconstruction team is assisting with the accident portion of the investigation. The Bureau of Investigation “is not involved in this case,” the agency spokesperson said.

Bogen disputed Crump’s account of how the events unfolded and said that the teen was hit after a call was made to police about an “assault taking place in a home” where the teen had been.

“There was a patrol vehicle that ran over the young man. As to whether he ran over his back, or what happened, that would depend on the investigation,” Bogen said calling the situation an “accident.”

“The idea that the police officer purposely ran over the alleged victim is a complete absurdity,” he said.

Officials with the police department and the department of public safety did not provide any documents or reports about the incident this week.

The county coroner’s office, which determines the cause and manner of death, did not answer respond to multiple calls. Smith, a junior in high school, had plans to move to Georgia with his sister and get into real estate after high school graduation, Calvert said.

She said the death of her “smart,” “outspoken” and “independent” son has been unfathomable.

“I wouldn’t even wish that pain on no one,” Calvert said. “It’s a pain when you lose your mom, or dad or a sister or a brother. But when you lose a child, your only son … ” Calvert said, unable to finish through her tears.

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Search efforts paused after 2 bodies found in Baltimore bridge collapse, focus turns to clearing debris

Search efforts paused after two bodies found in Baltimore bridge collapse, focus turns to clearing d

02:46

BALTIMORE — The search for bodies was paused Wednesday as attention turned to clearing debris from the deadly collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and reopening the Port of Baltimore.

The bodies of two construction workers were recovered from a submerged truck Wednesday. Four people remain missing and are presumed dead, but divers can no longer operate around the mangled bridge debris that has encased submerged vehicles, officials said.

The span was struck by a cargo ship that had lost power shortly after it left the Port of Baltimore early Tuesday morning.

The U.S. Navy said it is mobilizing barges outfitted with heavy lift cranes to help clear the Patapsco River of debris. Three cranes with varying lift capacities and support vessels are expected to begin removing submerged portions of the bridge, but it’s unclear when they will arrive.

Reopening channel ‘essential’ for port

All vessel traffic in and out of the port was suspended in the wake of the collapse, but it has remained open for trucks.

The Army Corps of Engineers will assist the salvage effort so that the Patapsco River’s shipping lanes, the entry to the port, can reopen.

The port is the ninth busiest in the United States, according to Census data, and handled more than $80 billion in import-exports last year, the most in 20 years. It is also home to Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Norwegian cruise lines.

Directly, the port supports 15,300 jobs, while another 140,000 in the area are related to port activities. The jobs provide a combined $3.3 billion in personal income, according to a CBS News report.

“The most urgent priority is to open the Port of Baltimore because it is essential to the livelihood of people here in Baltimore, in Maryland, and the economies across our country and around the world,” U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen said in a press conference Wednesday.

Maryland lawmakers are drafting emergency legislation for income replacement to assist thousands of Port of Baltimore workers impacted by the disruption.

Four remain missing, presumed dead

Eight people, part of a construction crew filling potholes, were on the bridge at the time of the collapse. Two were rescued, two bodies have been recovered, and four remain missing.

Two bodies recovered near Key Bridge collapse site

08:27

So far, three of the victims have been identified:

Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, 35, originally from Honduras and who has been living in the U.S. for 20 years
Miguel Luna, originally from El Salvador
Dorlian Castillo Cabrera, 26, originally from Guatemala

The Guatemalan Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed two of the missing men were from Guatemala, according to a Tuesday evening news release.

Honduras’ Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Antonio García told The Associated Press a Honduran citizen was missing, and the Mexican Embassy in Washington said there were Mexicans among the six as well.

The men are in their 30s and 40s and have spouses and children in Dundalk and Highlandtown, the Baltimore Banner reports.

Employer vows to help families

Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Hunt Valley-based general contractor Brawner Builders, told CBS MoneyWatch the workers had company-sponsored life insurance, but declined to disclose details regarding the policies.

Brawner intends to offer financial assistance to the missing workers’ families as they cope with the sudden loss of income, Pritzker said, without providing additional details on the company’s plans.

“The company is doing everything possible to support the families and to counsel the families and to be with the families,” Brawner Builders executive vice president Jeffrey Pritzker said.

Separately, a GoFundMe campaign is aiming to raise $60,000 to help their survivors. Organized by the Latino Racial Justice Circle, an advocacy group that fights racial injustice, it raised more than $98,000 as of Thursday morning. Brawner Builders is linking to the GoFundMe on its website, directing people who wish to support the families to the fundraising effort.

Disaster in minutes

The National Transportation Safety Board said the Dali, the striking ship, left the terminal at the Port of Baltimore around 12:39 a.m. Tuesday.

By 1:24 a.m., alarms started going off that something was wrong. At 1:27 a.m., the pilot ordered crews to drop the anchor and called for tugs, telling officials the vessel lost power and was headed toward the bridge.

And just two minutes later, the massive cargo ship crashed into the bridge at 8 mph.

The NTSB said police had just 90 seconds from when they received distress calls to cut the bridge off to traffic and to try to get people off.

A police officer patrolling because of the work on the bridge tried to get the construction workers off before it was too late, according to officials.

The ship was carrying 56 containers of corrosive, flammable material and batteries, some of which were breached, according to NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy. She said one of the hazardous materials, sheen, which is used in paint, had leaked into the Patapsco River. The environmental impact is still unclear.

State, federal leaders give update on recovery of Key Bridge collapse victims

32:49

Replacing a critical bridge

The Francis Scott Key Bridge crosses the Patapsco River and is the outermost of three toll crossings of Baltimore’s Harbor and the final link in Interstate 695, which connects Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

The bridge was completed in 1977 after the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel reached capacity and experienced heavy congestion almost daily, according to the MDTA. The 1.6-mile span was used by some 31,000 people per day and carried 11.5 million vehicles annually.

Maryland submitted a request to the federal government for emergency relief funds to rebuild the Key Bridge and reopen the port, Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Weidefeld said Wednesday.

“We intend to receive some federal dollars quickly and then we will start with the design for the replacement of the bridge to the port and get the community back up and running,” he said.

President Biden said Wednesday that he intends to push the federal government to pay entirely for the replacement bridge, and pledged to work with Maryland leaders to provide as much support as possible.

Senator Van Hollen said it was too early to put a price tag on the new bridge, but he called on Congress to work together to provide resources quickly.

“This is an American challenge,” Van Hollen said. “We are a great American city here in Baltimore. We are hoping all of our colleagues come together and join us in making sure we rebuild the bridge.”

Rohan Mattu

Rohan Mattu is a digital producer at CBS News Baltimore. Rohan graduated from Towson University in 2020 with a degree in journalism and previously wrote for WDVM-TV in Hagerstown. He maintains WJZ’s website and social media, which includes breaking news in everything from politics to sports.

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Baltimore bridge search moving from recovery mission to salvage effort

Baltimore bridge search moving from recovery mission to salvage effort – CBS News

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Maryland officials held a news conference Wednesday evening to give an update on the Baltimore bridge collapse, announcing divers recovered the bodies of two victims. CBS News correspondent Natalie Brand reports.

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Search continues for 6 people presumed dead in Baltimore bridge collapse

Search continues for 6 people presumed dead in Baltimore bridge collapse – CBS News

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Divers resumed their search Wednesday for the six people who are presumed dead after the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into the collapse. CBS News’ Jarred Hill reports.

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Search resumes for 6 presumed dead in Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore

TEAM COVERAGE: Six presumed dead in Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, community shows outpouring of

06:10

BALTIMORE — The search resumed Wednesday morning for six people missing and presumed dead in the wake of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

The bridge crumbled early Tuesday after a support column was hit by a large container ship that had lost power, sending people and vehicles into the Patapsco River.

Search and rescue operations were suspended at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday as officials transitioned to recovery efforts.

“Based on the length of time that we’ve gone in this search, the extensive search efforts that we’ve put into it, the water temperature — that at this point we do not believe that we’re going to find any of these individuals still alive,” Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said in a news conference Tuesday evening.

Two workers rescued, six missing

Two people were rescued from the water shortly after Tuesday’s collapse. One of the rescued workers was unhurt, the other was treated at the University of Maryland Medical Center and has been discharged.

All eight people were part of a construction crew filling potholes on the bridge at the time, Gilreath said.

Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the National Transportation Security Board, said Tuesday afternoon that a local company, Brawner Builders, employed the workers.

Perilous search conditions

The Coast Guard is leading the recovery mission at the Key Bridge site.

Col. Roland Butler Jr., with Maryland State Police, said conditions in the water, including changing currents, low visibility and sharp metal objects, made it dangerous for divers and first responders.

Divers would begin recovery operations at 6 a.m. Wednesday, Butler Jr. said, adding that the victims’ exact locations were unknown.

Maryland Democratic Rep. David Trone told CBS News recovery efforts will likely be conducted with underwater drones. He said the drones will be able to locate submerged vehicles and that authorities have identified one in particular that likely has casualties.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott discusses recovery efforts, path back from Francis Scott Key Bridge co

03:41

Who are the victims?

All six victims were working on the bridge filling potholes at the time of the collapse. One of the victims has been identified by a nonprofit organization, and three South American nations indicated missing citizens but stopped short of identifying them as victims.

The nonprofit organization CASA identified one of the missing workers as Miguel Luna, a man from El Salvador who was a father of three.

Guatemala’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said two of the missing workers were from that country. One was 26 years old and the other was 35 years old, according to the ministry.

Ship had a “power issue” before the collision

Investigators have confirmed that the ship lost power right before the collision. Governor Wes Moore said the crew notified authorities of a “power issue.”

Two U.S. officials told CBS News multiple alarms rang out on the ship, alerting pilots and crew to an issue on board. The crew ran several system tests to attempt to remedy the loss of propulsion from the motor, but the tests proved unsuccessful. At that point, the pilot alerted the Maryland Department of Transportation and the Maryland Transit Authority.

Roughly two minutes elapsed between when the ship’s pilot notified state authorities of an issue on board and when the bridge collapsed, Baltimore County Executive John Olszewski said.

Mayday call saved lives

Officials said in a news conference that the call allowed officials to order a mayday and stop traffic onto the bridge.

Moore said that the decision to stop traffic onto the bridge “saved lives last night.” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott told CBS News the mayday call “saved many lives” and allowed emergency personnel to get to the scene quickly.

Officials did not clarify how many vehicles were on the bridge at the time of the collapse. Infrared video showed that vehicles did enter the water, but it’s not clear if those vehicles had occupants. Multiple vehicles remained in the river Wednesday.

Homendy said it was too early in the investigation to clarify an exact timeline of events for the accident.

The ship’s crew made an effort to deploy the anchor, though it remains unclear how much progress was made, multiple officials said Tuesday.

Maritime expert reacts to ship hitting Baltimore bridge, causing collapse

07:12

“If it lost steering and power, then basically it’s a dead ship just being carried by the current or its own momentum,” James Mercante, the president of the New York Board of Pilot Commissioners, told CBS News.

He said video shows a “big, big puff of black, real dark black smoke” which might indicate that the vessel’s power was “restored at the last minute” and that the pilot was “attempting to make an emergency maneuver” to prevent the collision. However, it would be difficult to stop the 900-foot-long vessel.

“It would take quite a while — probably the length of five [or] six football fields — to bring that ship to a stop, even after dropping the anchors, because of its power and momentum. This is a behemoth,” Mercante said.

Where is the Francis Scott Key Bridge?

The bridge crosses the Patapsco River, a key waterway that along with the Port of Baltimore serves as a hub for East Coast shipping.

The bridge is the outermost of three toll crossings of Baltimore’s Harbor and the final link in Interstate 695, known in the region as the Baltimore Beltway, which links Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

The bridge was built in 1977 after the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel reached capacity and experienced heavy congestion almost daily, according to the MDTA.

The 1.6-mile span was used by some 31,000 people per day and carried 11.5 million vehicles annually.

Rohan Mattu

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Search efforts continue after Baltimore bridge collapse

Search efforts continue after Baltimore bridge collapse – CBS News

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Search efforts continued Tuesday night following the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. The bridge plunged into the Patapsco River in the early morning hours after a cargo ship struck one of its support columns. “CBS Evening News” anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell has the latest from Baltimore.

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What we know about the search and rescue effort at the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse site in Baltimore

Rescue efforts ongoing after Key Bridge collapse

14:07

BALTIMORE — Multiple agencies mobilized a mass casualty response after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in Baltimore early Tuesday morning, sending multiple vehicles into the Patapsco River below.

A bridge column was hit by a large container ship around 1:30 a.m., causing the bridge to collapse.

Search and rescue ongoing

The Baltimore Fire Department said the scene was an active search and rescue, and that the U.S. Coast Guard is assisting.

It was not immediately clear how many cars fell into the water, but at least one semi-truck was involved.

Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said there are a total of eight victims, one who was hospitalized in serious condition, a second who refused treatment, and six bridge workers who remain unaccounted for.

Officials said in a news conference that a mayday had been issued before the collision, which allowed officials to stop traffic onto the bridge. Officials did not clarify how many vehicles were on the bridge at the time of the collapse.

Sonar used to detect vehicles

Nighttime conditions hindered visibility, but Wallace said crews used sonar to detect vehicles in the river.

The water below the bridge is 50 feet deep, Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said, and according to NOAA’s National Data Buoy Center, the river water was 48 degrees overnight.

Coast Guard efforts at Baltimore bridge collapse site

The Coast Guard’s primary mission is looking for any survivors in the water.

“We currently have three small boats,” Lieutenant Commander Erin Palmer said. “We also have Coast Guard Cutter Mako, an 87-foot patrol boat. We have a helicopter from Air Station at Atlantic City. And we’re working with numerous federal, state and local partners on scene on these search and rescue efforts.”

Wallace said at least two people have been rescued from the water — one wasn’t hurt and one was in “very serious” condition. The injured person was being treated at the University of Maryland Medical Center and had been unable to speak to investigators so far, officials said.

Who is missing?

The contractors were on the bridge making concrete deck repairs at the time of the collapse, and six remain unaccounted for. Officials did not say which contracting company the workers were from.

One victim rescued refused medical treatment, and the second was hospitalized at R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center with serious injuries, officials said. The trauma center later confirmed the victim was discharged from the hospital.

The state has set up a facility for any family members of any victims, and mental health professionals are available there.

Rohan Mattu

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2 rescued after Baltimore bridge collapse, search continues for others

2 rescued after Baltimore bridge collapse, search continues for others – CBS News

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At least two people have been pulled from the water after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early Tuesday morning. The bridge was struck by a cargo ship, terrorism is not currently suspected. CBS News correspondent Jarred Hill has more.

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WWII ace pilot Richard Bong’s plane crashed in 1944. A team has launched a search for the wreckage in the South Pacific.

A Wisconsin museum is partnering with a historical preservation group in a search for the wreckage of World War II ace Richard Bong’s plane in the South Pacific.

The Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center in Superior and the nonprofit World War II historical preservation group Pacific Wrecks announced the search on Friday, Minnesota Public Radio reported.

Bong, who grew up in Poplar, is credited with shooting down 40 Japanese aircraft during World War II — the most ever, according to the Air Force. He flew a Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter plane nicknamed “Marge” in honor of his girlfriend, Marjorie Vattendahl. Bong plastered a blow-up of Vattendahl’s portrait on the nose of the plane, according to a Pacific Wrecks’ summary of the plane’s service.

Bong Plane-Expedition — Captain Richard J. Bong, of Poplar, Wisc., points to a large picture of his girl friend, Marge Battendahl on his Lighting P-38 fighter plane pilot stationed at a New Guinea Air Base, on March 31, 1944.

/ AP

Bong said at the time that Vattendahl “looks swell, and a hell of a lot better than these naked women painted on most of the airplanes,” the Los Angeles Times reported in Vattendahl’s 2003 obituary.

Another pilot, Thomas Malone, was flying the plane in March 1944 over what is now known as Papua New Guinea when engine failure sent it into a spin. Malone bailed out before the plane crashed in the jungle.

Pacific Wrecks founder Justin Taylan will lead the search for the plane. He plans to leave for Papua New Guinea in May. He believes the search could take almost a month and cost about $63,000 generated through donations.

Taylan told Minnesota Public Radio that he’s confident he’ll find the wreckage since historical records provide an approximate location of the crash site. But he’s not sure there will be enough left to conclusively identify it as Marge.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to find the ultimate proof, which will be a serial number from the airplane that says this airplane is Marge,” Taylan said.

Bong shot down more planes than any other American pilot, earning celebrity status. Gen. Douglas MacArthur awarded him the Medal of Honor, the U.S. military’s highest decoration, in 1944.

According to the Air Force Historical Support Division, his Medal of Honor citation reads: “For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action in the Southwest Pacific area from Oct. 10 to Nov. 15, 1944. Though assigned to duty as gunnery instructor and neither required nor expected to perform combat duty, Major Bong voluntarily and at his own urgent request engaged in repeated combat missions, including unusually hazardous sorties over Balikpapan, Borneo, and in the Leyte area of the Philippines. His aggressiveness and daring resulted in his shooting down enemy airplanes totaling eight during this period.”

Bong also earned the Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Stars, seven Distinguished Flying Crosses and 15 Air Medals, according to the Air Force.

Captain Richard I. Bong on March 30, 1944.

AP Photo

Bong married Vattendahl in 1945. He was assigned to duty as a test pilot in Burbank, California, after three combat tours in the South Pacific. He was killed on Aug. 6, 1945, when a P-80 jet fighter he was testing crashed.

He died on the same day the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

Vattendhal was 21 when Bong died. She went on to become a model and a magazine publisher in Los Angeles. She died in September 2003 in Superior.

The search for Bong’s plane comes just weeks after a deep-sea exploration team searching for the wreckage of Amelia Earhart’s lost plane in the South Pacific said it captured a sonar image that “appears to be Earhart’s Lockheed 10-E Electra” aircraft.

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Emergency declared after Baltimore bridge collapse, search underway | Special Report

Emergency declared after Baltimore bridge collapse, search underway | Special Report – CBS News

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Search and rescue efforts are underway after the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed early Tuesday morning. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has declared a state of emergency, saying in a statement that, “we are working with an interagency team to quickly deploy federal resources from the Biden administration.”

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