Baltimore mayor requests CNN to halt airing distressing footage of bridge collapse

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott appeared to ask CNN on Tuesday to stop airing “traumatizing” footage of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

“I’m going to be the first to ask that CNN and everyone else stop showing the video,” Scott told CNN’s Sara Sidner. “No one needs to see a possibility of their family member being severely injured or otherwise over and over and over again.”

“It’s just traumatizing our community.”

The Francis Scott Key Bridge sustained a “catastrophic collapse” at about 1:30 a.m. after a cargo ship rammed into one of the supports for the structure, sending people and vehicles into the water below.

“We have an unspeakable tragedy. We know that this vessel struck the bridge, and the bridge collapsed,” Scott said. “There were individuals working on the bridge at that time. There are cars in the water. Our fire department has confirmed that as they lead this ongoing search-and-rescue mission through sonar.”

The focus of Baltimore is on the souls of those stuck in the water, according to Scott.

“We know that there’s going to be questions about the bridge, and traffic, and the port, but right now, everyone in this world’s focus should be about these souls and those families who are wondering if these people are going to walk back in the door after they walked out to work last night.”

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Seeing the destruction in person was like witnessing something out of an action movie, Scott said.

“It’s something you never think you would see, and being here, right now, looking at it is even more surreal.”