FBI Initiates Criminal Investigation on Baltimore Bridge Collapse per Reports

The FBI has opened a criminal investigation into the ship crash that caused a deadly bridge collapse in Baltimore last month, according to multiple reports on Monday.

Sources told The Washington Post the federal inquiry is reviewing events leading up to the collision, including whether the crew left port knowing the transport had problems with its systems.

The vessel’s owner, operators, and attorneys did not immediately respond to the news outlet’s request for comment.

Federal agents appeared to be on the ship conducting a search on Monday morning. The bureau acknowledged in a statement that agents were on the Dali performing “court authorized law enforcement activity.”

Erek Barron, the U.S. attorney for Maryland, said the “public should know, whether it’s gun violence, civil rights abuse, financial fraud, or any other threat to public safety or property, we will seek accountability for anyone who may be responsible.”

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott separately announced his city is “seeking recourse from those who may potentially be responsible, and with the ship’s owner filing a petition to limit its liability mere days after the incident, we need to act equally as quickly to protect the City’s interests.”

A Singapore-flagged container ship named Dali lost power and rammed into a support beam of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing a large section of the structure to break apart at around 1:30 a.m. on March 26.

ABC News noted that no one on the cargo ship was injured in the crash, but some containers fell into the channel.

Authorities have said six people, identified as construction workers who were filling potholes, were presumed dead after the bridge crumbled into the Patapsco River. Three bodies have been recovered.

The National Transportation Safety Board, tasked with determining the probable causes of transportation accidents and issuing safety recommendations, is also investigating the collapse.

The agency’s chairwoman, Jennifer Homendy, said at a Senate hearing last week that investigators had interviewed personnel from the ship and were collecting data, per Reuters.

Cleanup crews have been working to clear the wreckage.

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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said in early April that the Baltimore shipping channel was expected to partially reopen by the end of the month and fully reopen by the end of May.

President Joe Biden visited Baltimore on April 5 to survey the bridge collapse site and pledged federal support for reconstructing the bridge, saying, “Your nation has your back.”

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