National Wellness

Video above: NTSB officials provide timeline of events from bridge crash While the tragic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore is frightening, it is anything but isolated, drawing comparisons to several deadly disasters in the United States, including one in Alabama.On Sept. 22, 1993, 47 people were killed and more than 100 were injured in an eerily similar tragedy involving a large ship and a bridge near Mobile.Lost and disoriented inside a patch of dense fog, the Mauvilla, a towboat pushing a barge took a wrong turn while navigating the Mobile River before colliding with the Big Bayou Canot railroad bridge.Less than 10 minutes after the initial crash, the Sunset Limited, an Amtrak train heading to Miami with 220 people on board, collided with the displaced bridge and derailed, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.Seven segments of the train, including two passenger cars, fell from the tracks and into the water below.Following the derailment, fuel tanks on the train’s locomotive units ruptured, causing several cars to catch fire.While crew members began to evacuate the cars left on the bridge, those in the water worked to form a relay system to assist elderly passengers as well as those who were unable to swim.According to survivors, several cars filled within seconds while other sections remained above water for a mere 10 minutes.The fog in the area was so intense that, for a while, the crew of the Mauvilla was unaware that a train had even crashed, noting only “a hiss like a roar but not a boom or nothing like that” and the glow of flames.After they were updated on the situation at hand, the Mauvilla’s crew, along with that of the Scott Pride, another towboat that responded to the scene, began rescuing survivors.Both boats pulled a combined 37 people from the water.Around 8:30 p.m., over 5 hours after the crash, the last of the survivors were treated and transported to area hospitals.In total 42 passengers and five crew members were killed with 103 people injured. No one onboard the Mauvilla was hurt during the disaster.After completing an investigation of the accident, the NTSB deemed that the tugboat’s pilot was to blame for the crash, citing his “lack of radar navigation competency.” The U.S. Coast Guard was also deemed to be at fault for failing to establish “higher standards” for the licensing of towboat pilot.Stay updated on the latest stories with the WVTM 13 app. You can download it here.