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After Francis Scott Key Bridge collapses into river, Baltimore residents “can’t believe it’s gone”
BALTIMORE — Witnesses could not believe their eyes early Tuesday morning, looking at where the Francis Scott Key Memorial Bridge once spanned the Patapsco River. The span collapsed in the water below overnight. Rescue efforts are underway after several vehicles fell into the frigid water.
A large container ship was believed to have struck a column of the bridge around 1:30 a.m., fire department spokesman Kevin Cartwright said. There are at least seven people but up to 20 people in the water and a mass casualty response is underway.
Video footage obtained by WJZ shows a fiery explosion before the collapse, in which a ship appears to hit a strut of the bridge.
‘Can’t believe it’s gone’
A witness told WJZ’s Mike Hellgren the sound accompanying the collapse was massive, shaking his home.
“Earthquake – sounded like a big bash of thunder,” the resident said. “And then just like I said it felt like an earthquake, the whole house vibrated. Like my house was falling down.”
The resident said he never thought in his “wildest dreams” he would see something like this happen.
“I’ve been in this neighborhood 57 years, I remembered when they built this bridge,” he said. “Can’t believe it’s gone.”
Another resident speculated about the possible implications of the crash.
“This is going to be catastrophic for many reasons,” he said. “Number one, the harbor’s blocked. Number two, we’re not going to get any more new car deliveries at this time. Amazon is just on the other side of the river and you can forget your same-day, next-day delivery packages. The beltway is going to be a parking lot. The tunnels are going to be over-jammed.”
“I was there yesterday,” another resident told WJZ, a thought surely shared by many Tuesday morning. “To see the bridge gone knowing I was on that bridge not even 10 hours ago – it’s devastating.”
Francis Scott Key Bridge
The Francis Scott Key BRidge bridge spans the Patapsco River and is a link of I-695. Officials say commuters should take I-95 or I-895 Tuesday morning.
Officials said Anne Arundel County Fire Department, the Baltimore County Fire Department , Maryland Department of the Environment and the Maryland Transit Authority are among the agencies responding to the incident.
The 1.6 mile-long bridge, named for the author of the Star Spangled Banner, opened in 1977 and is one of three toll crossings of Baltimore’s Harbor, according to the MDTA.
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Paris Hilton’s bill to protect minors at residential treatment facilities heads to president’s desk
Heiress, model and actor Paris Hilton is the force behind a bill headed to President Biden’s desk that’s aimed at preventing the abuse of minors at rehab and other residential facilities.
The House passed the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act in a bipartisan 373-33 vote Wednesday, after the Senate passed the bill by unanimous consent earlier in the week. It’s a cause that’s personal to Hilton, who says she was abused at residential treatment facilities as a teen. Hilton lived in a series of residential treatment facilities from the age of 16, testifying before Congress in June that she had been violently restrained, stripped of clothing and tossed into solitary confinement, among other experiences.
“Today is a day I will never forget,” Hilton wrote on Instagram. “After years of sharing my story and advocating on Capitol Hill, the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act has officially passed the U.S Congress. This moment is proof that our voices matter, that speaking out can spark change, and that no child should ever endure the horrors of abuse in silence. I did this for the younger version of myself and the youth who were senselessly taken from us by the Troubled Teen Industry.”
Now 43, Hilton has championed child protection legislation on Capitol Hill for years, encouraging lawmakers to pass regulations to help protect troubled teens from abuse at treatment centers. Hilton met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week, urging them to take up the legislation before the 118th Congress ends.
Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna introduced the legislation in the House and Senate, and they were joined by Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Tommy Tuberville and Republican Rep. Buddy Carter.
“Children across the country are at risk of abuse and neglect due to a lack of transparency in institutional youth treatment programs,” Khanna said in a statement. “The industry has gone unchecked for too long. Paris Hilton and other survivors of abuse in this broken system have bravely shared their stories and inspired change. I’m proud to lead this legislation with my colleagues to protect the safety and well-being of kids.”
The legislation creates a federal work group on youth residential programs to oversee the health, safety, care, treatment and placement of minors in rehab and other facilities. It also directs the Department of Health and Human Services to make contact with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to make recommendations about state oversight of such programs.
Hilton is the great-grandaughter of Conrad Hilton, who founded Hilton Hotels.
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