The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has launched a criminal inquiry into the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge.
According to reports, citing two US officials familiar with the matter, the probe will look into the circumstances leading up to the collapse and if all federal regulations were followed.
“The FBI is present aboard the cargo ship Dali conducting court authorized law enforcement activity,” the agency said in a statement Monday.
The investigation is separate from the one by the National Transportation Safety Board targeting Dali’s electrical power system. Dali’s voyager data recorder showed power failed for just one minute and three seconds as it approached the bridge, and that the lead pilot tried to swing the 300 m long vessel clear of a collision by dropping its port anchor to pivot it away.
The FBI probe is reportedly focused on whether the ship’s crew knew there were mechanical or electrical issues aboard the Dali before it left the port and took the bridge down on March 26, sending six members of a roadwork crew plunging to their deaths.
Divers have recovered three bodies from the underwater wreckage, while the remaining three victims are still unaccounted for.
