The void is inescapable. For 47 years, more than 3,000 tons of steel and concrete hung suspended above the Patapsco River, a sentry for vessels going to and from Baltimore.

Now, it is gone, the mangled remains of the Francis Scott Key Bridge are draped over the bow of the container ship that brought it down in darkness Tuesday morning. What’s left of the bridge is either on the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay or on top of the Dali, a boat the size of the Eiffel Tower.

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When the bridge fell, it brought death with it. Seven construction workers plummeted into the newly formed abyss, and six of them died. The six people who died were Latin American immigrants who toiled in the middle of the night to maintain a passage used by tens of thousands every day.

Days later, under overcast sky, the scene is one from a disaster film. Shipping containers, red and yellow and grey, dangle over the Dali’s side, the steel boxes look as if they’d been run through a paper shredder. A speed limit sign — 55 mph — stands next to what’s left of the road.

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Giant cranes, barges and tugboats are working to clean up the scene, an effort that will cost millions upon millions of dollars.

The shipping channel to and from the Port of Baltimore, one of the busiest in America, will remain closed. Authorities are working to open a temporary shipping lane next to the wreckage. Goods will not flow, people will be out of work and the city will hurt until they do.

And, somewhere in the murky waters, underneath concrete and steel, are the bodies of four construction workers. Two men, Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, were found inside of a pickup truck.

A Baltimore Banner photographer boarded a Coast Guard vessel Monday morning, getting within 100 feet of the scene. This is what their camera captured.

The Dali, a massive container ship from Singapore, still sits in the wreckage and collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the Baltimore port on April 1, 2024. It has been a week since it lost power and struck the bridge , causing it to topple in seconds, taking several roadway workers and their cars with it. The once giant frame of the bridge now sits in the water and large cranes have arrived to untangle the mess.
The Dali, a massive container ship from Singapore, still sits in the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the Baltimore port on April 1, 2024. It has been nearly a week since the ship lost power and struck the bridge, causing the structure to topple in seconds and taking several roadway workers and their vehicles with it. The once-giant frame of the bridge now sits in the water, and large cranes have arrived to untangle the mess. (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner)
Support pillars from the Key Bridge sit next to their crumpled frame counterparts. (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner)
The Dali, a massive container ship from Singapore, is encased in the remnants of the Key Bridge. (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner)
A speed limit sign instructing drivers to not exceed 55mph sits at the end of what is left of the Key Bridge.
A speed limit sign instructing drivers to not exceed 55 mph sits at the end of what is left of the Key Bridge. (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner)
The once-giant frame of the bridge now sits in the water and large cranes have arrived to untangle the mess. (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner)
The Dali, a massive container ship from Singapore, lost some of its cargo containers. A few containers now resemble crumpled cardboard as they dangle off the ship. (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner)
The Dali sustained a lot of damage from the bridge, as evident in this large hole in its side.
The once-giant frame of the bridge now encases the Dali, which is unable to move. (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner)
The Dali, a massive container ship from Singapore, still sits in the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the Baltimore port on April 1, 2024. It has been nearly a week since the ship lost power and struck the bridge, causing the structure to topple in seconds and taking several roadway workers and their vehicles with it. The once-giant frame of the bridge now sits in the water, and large cranes have arrived to untangle the mess. (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner)
Several boats have docked next to the Dali to survey damages and devise a plan to release it from the wreckage. (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner)
The Dali, a massive container ship from Singapore, still sits in the wreckage and collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the Baltimore port on April 1, 2024. It has been a week since it lost power and struck the bridge , causing it to topple in seconds, taking several roadway workers and their cars with it. The once giant frame of the bridge now sits in the water and large cranes have arrived to untangle the mess.
The Dali, a massive container ship from Singapore, still sits in the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the Baltimore port on April 1, 2024. It has been nearly a week since the ship lost power and struck the bridge, causing the structure to topple in seconds and taking several roadway workers and their vehicles with it. The once-giant frame of the bridge now sits in the water and large cranes have arrived to untangle the mess. (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner)
The Dali, a massive container ship from Singapore, still sits in the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the Baltimore port on April 1, 2024. It has been nearly a week since the ship lost power and struck the bridge, causing the structure to topple in seconds and taking several roadway workers and their vehicles with it. The once-giant frame of the bridge now sits in the water, and large cranes have arrived to untangle the mess. (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner)
The Dali, a massive container ship from Singapore, still sits in the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the Baltimore port on April 1, 2024. It has been nearly a week since the ship lost power and struck the bridge, causing the structure to topple in seconds and taking several roadway workers and their vehicles with it. The once-giant frame of the bridge now sits in the water, and large cranes have arrived to untangle the mess. (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner)
The Dali, a massive container ship from Singapore, still sits in the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the Baltimore port on April 1, 2024. It has been nearly a week since the ship lost power and struck the bridge, causing the structure to topple in seconds and taking several roadway workers and their vehicles with it. The once-giant frame of the bridge now sits in the water, and large cranes have arrived to untangle the mess. (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner)
The Dali, a massive container ship from Singapore, still sits in the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the Baltimore port on April 1, 2024. It has been nearly a week since the ship lost power and struck the bridge, causing the structure to topple in seconds and taking several roadway workers and their vehicles with it. The once-giant frame of the bridge now sits in the water, and large cranes have arrived to untangle the mess. (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner)
What is left of the Key Bridge sits in the water, a place the upper part of the bridge was never supposed to touch.
What is left of the Key Bridge sits in the water, a place the upper part of the bridge was never supposed to touch. (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner)

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the number of people who fell into the Patapsco River after the Dali crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

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