Baltimore bridge crash under federal criminal investigation as city hires lawyers to mitigate ‘immediate and long-term harm’

Federal authorities have launched a criminal investigation into last month’s ship crash that destroyed Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and killed six people, according to a US official familiar with the matter.

The FBI and the US Coast Guard are leading the criminal investigation into the disaster and whether the crew failed to report an earlier issue with the vessel that delayed its departure, the official said.

“The FBI is present aboard the cargo ship Dali conducting court authorized law enforcement activity,” the agency told CNN in a statement Monday.

The Washington Post first reported the investigation.

The city of Baltimore is also looking into who might be responsible for destroying the bridge that 30,000 Marylanders relied on every day and clogging a channel that’s vital to the local economy.

“Through this engagement, the City of Baltimore will take decisive action to hold responsible all entities accountable for the Key Bridge tragedy, including the owner, charterer, manager/operator, and the manufacturer of the M/V Dali, as well as any other potentially liable third parties.”

“Today, the City of Baltimore announced a partnership with the national complex issues and trial firm DiCello Levitt and Philadelphia law firm Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky Trial Lawyers to launch legal action to hold the wrongdoers responsible and to mitigate the immediate and long-term harm caused to Baltimore City residents,” Mayor Brandon Scott said in a statement Monday.

The mayor has also announced programs to help families of the victims as well as businesses and workers impacted by the catastrophe.

Salvage crews remove wreckage from the cargo ship Dali last Tuesday. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The bridge collapsed around 1:30 a.m. March 26 after a massive cargo ship called the Dali lost power and struck the bridge.

Six construction workers who were repairing potholes on the bridge plunged into the Patapsco River and died. Of the six killed, the bodies of three have been found.

The National Transportation Safety Board has been investigating why the 213-million-pound ship lost power and crashed into the 47-year-old bridge. The probe has been focused on engine room equipment, the NTSB said last week.

The tragedy has also halted cargo shipments in the area and impacted the livelihoods of thousands of workers in and around the Port of Baltimore.

The US Army Corps of Engineers has said it plans to reopen the channel affected by the crash by the end of May.

This is a developing story and will be updated.