Collapse of the Key Bridge in Baltimore: how a topic we all know was born a few meters from the bridge

Last Tuesday, a cargo ship collided with the “Bridge of Keys”, or Francis Scott Key Bridge, in Baltimore, United States, causing it to collapse completely. The cars traveling on board fell into the waters of the Patapsco River and so far six people are missing.

The history of the bridge, built in 1977 in the state of Maryland, is richer than you might think.

The facility is named in honor of Francis Scott Keythe author of the lyrics of the national anthem of the United States, “The Starry Banner”.

As Preservation Maryland indicates, historians believe the bridge was built 100 yards from where the British flagship HMS Tonnant was located where Scott Key was detained when he wrote the poem that would later become the lyrics to the anthem.

One of the most famous songs in history

When he wrote the poem, Key was 35 years old and a lawyer. I knew practically nothing about poetry. That day, September 13, 1814, the lawyer had been arrested by British troops and waited there as they attacked Fort McHenry, on Chesapeake Bay.

In 1812, war was going on between the United Kingdom and the United States, and Key was there because he had negotiated with the English for the freedom of a man called William Beanes who had been kidnapped in Washington.

Key obtained Beanes’ release, but in exchange the British troops kept him on the HMS for a while.

After the attack on the fort, at dawn, Key saw the American flag flying over McHenry and was inspired to write the poem. It was a way to celebrate the American victory.

The anthem of the United States was declared an anthem on March 3, 1931. The origin of its music is not very clear, but it is believed that it may have been composed by an Englishman named John Stafford Smith.

What happened in Baltimore?

The accident occurred around 01:30 local time (2:30 in Argentina), when the cargo ship “Dali” collided with the bridge causing its collapse.

The cargo ship lost propulsion, according to initial indications, and ended up stranded against the bridge.

Maryland Secretary of Transportation Paolo Wiedefeldindicated that the low temperature of the water, its depth, about 15 meters, and the darkness at the time of the event make the work difficult.

The priority is to find the missing, the mayor of Baltimore told the press, Brandon Scottin one of the many appearances organized throughout the day to offer the latest details on what happened.

This is already known there are no signs of a terrorist attack. The FBI and its special agent are involved in the investigation, as every time events of this magnitude occur Bill Delbagno He specified that there is “no specific or credible information to suggest the existence of links to terrorism”.

Everything indicates that it was an accident. This was announced by the Singaporean company Synergy Group, which manages the ship none of its 22 crew members were injuredwhile the Danish multinational Maersk confirmed that it had temporarily chartered the vessel and was carrying the company’s cargo.

The Dali has a gross load capacity of 95,000 tonnes and is 300 meters long. In 2016, according to data from Vessel Finder, she hit the quay of the port of Antwerp (Belgium).

With information from EFE