Emotional Baltimore Mayor urges prayers after Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, "It looked like something out of an action movie"
BALTIMORE – An emotional Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott urged everybody to keep their focus on the victims of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse Tuesday morning. Much of the 1.6 mile bridge collapsed overnight after being struck by a container ship.
"This is an unthinkable tragedy," Scott said at a press conference early Tuesday. "We have to first and foremost pray for all of those who are impacted, those families, pray for our first responders and thank them."
"We have to be thinking about the families and people impacted. We have to try to find them safe," Scott said.
Federal government pledging help after Key Bridge collapse
Mayor Scott said that he has been in touch with federal officials who are promising all of their resources to the city.
"I spoke with Secretary Buttigieg directly. He and his team said they would work obviously with us throughout this incident… to make sure that we have every resource that he and the federal government can provide."
"We are going to continue to work in partnership with every part of government to do everything that we can to get us through to the other side of this tragedy."
'It looked like something out of an action movie'
Scott was visibly shaken as he and other officials addressed reporters, standing a short distance from the Key Bridge.
"This is a tragedy that you could never imagine," Scott said. "Never would you think that you would see – physically see - the Key Bridge tumble down like that. It looked like something out of an action movie."
Focus on saving lives, not rebuilding - yet
The mayor was reluctant to talk about anything beyond the search and rescue effort underway Tuesday morning. When asked about rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Scott refused to speculate at this time.
"We shouldn't even be having that discussion right now," he said. "The discussion right now should be about the people, the souls, the lives that we're trying to save.
"There will be a time to discuss a bridge and how we get a bridge back up, but right now there are people in the water that we have to get out, and that is the only thing we should be talking about," Mayor Scott said.
"That should be our focus – the preservation of life."